


You Stole My Heart

by Thundersnow (pieprincess_andthe_fallenangel)



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, BAMF Barry, BAMF Leonard Snart, Canon Compliant, ColdFlash Week, ColdFlash Week 2016, Dark Barry Allen, Feels, Fluff, For the most part, Humour, M/M, Mutual Pining, ROGUE BARRY ALLEN, Series Spoilers, Sexual Tension, Smut, henry allen dies, partners in crime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-09
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-07 12:30:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 45,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8800912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pieprincess_andthe_fallenangel/pseuds/Thundersnow
Summary: There is a new thief in Central City, someone who can move at extraordinary speeds, and Len can’t help but be intrigued by his new competition.“The name’s Captain Cold. And I’d love to stay and catch up,” Len drawled, stepping away. “But I really have to run. See you around, Kid.”“What? I don’t get a codename?” The speedster muttered and Len noticed a smile on his face. Good. This would be more fun if the kid was also enjoying the game.“If you want a cool nickname, then you’ve got to earn it, Kid.” Len, knowing he only had another 53 seconds until the ice-like substance around the speedster’s feet became pliable enough for him to break free, turned on his heel and strode out of the building with the diamond necklace in his gloved hand.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> [Last edited to remove mistakes: 20/09/17]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 6: Dark Barry.
> 
> This isn't quite like my other Coldflash week fics because I originally wrote this to be about 10k. But then a few days ago I decided that it was just far too rushed and so I broke up all the mini time jumps and bulked it up a little bit. Now it's going to be about 18k when it's complete and I'll be posting a new chapter every week (though I think I'll change the posting day to Monday because I don't like posting on a Friday).
> 
> I think this falls under the Dark Barry umbrella? Barry isn't exactly dark but he has snapped and become a thief (and he will stay a thief for the entirety of the fic, btw). I came up with this idea months ago when I was thinking about how many hero Len fics there are verses how few villain Barry fics there are. And I started questioning that because they both appear to me to be in the morally grey zone. Barry is leaning more towards the light whereas Len is leaning more towards the dark. But if Len is able to switch it around and become a hero with the right prodding, then why is the opposite not true for Barry? So, yeah, that's what this fic is about. Like I said, he doesn't go super dark in this. But him and Len are definitely partners in crime.

Barry felt empty. He was sitting alone in his apartment and staring blankly at the TV. The funeral had finished hours ago, but he was still dressed in his suit and tie. Barry couldn't even remember the last thing that he'd told his father. He'd been in a coma for the past _nine months_ … and he'd barely been awake for a day before a prison riot had broken out among the inmates of Iron Heights, killing his father.

Henry Allen. The man that had spent the past fifteen years wrongly accused of the murder of Nora Allen. Barry had spent so long trying to prove that his father was innocent and now he'd woken up with super speed and _finally_ he thought that it might be possible. He could finally prove that what'd he'd described, a man in lightning, all those years ago was possible. For the first time in forever, Barry had renewed hope that he could get his father exonerated!

And if Henry Allen hadn't been in the wrong place at the wrong time, then maybe he would have. But, as fate would have it, Henry Allen was never going to leave that prison in anything but a body bag.

And now Barry was empty. His entire life since he was ten years old was about getting his father freed from jail. And now Barry was without purpose and without family, working with the very people who had arrested his father in the first place.

Joe… Joe had arrested Barry's father. If he'd just listened to Barry, then maybe Barry wouldn't be an orphan right now. He'd pretended to listen, pretending like he agreed, like he was on Barry's side. But it had all been a lie. Joe had proven that last week when Barry had tried to tell him about Clyde Mardon still being alive and being capable of controlling the weather. He didn't believe him about Mardon and he didn't believe him about his dad either.

Joe had failed him. The legal system that Barry had dedicated his entire life to, hoping that it would eventually prevail and find his father innocent, had failed him. Now he had nothing but resentment for both. He'd stopped talking to Joe the second that he'd heard the news about his father and he was taking a sabbatical of unknown length from work, though he wondered if he shouldn't just quit. He didn't really want to work there anymore, surrounded by people who believed Barry was nothing more than a naïve child for insisting his father's innocence.

Felicity, who he had met in Star City nine months ago, had tried to get in touch with him after learning the news. But he'd dodged her calls so much that she eventually stopped calling, getting the point that he just wanted to be left alone. Barry hoped that she would forget about him. It would be easier that way.

Eventually, Barry managed to drag himself into the shower and wash up before going bed. But he spent the majority of the next three weeks unshaven, and barely-washed, inside his apartment. Joe had eventually given up trying to talk to Barry, but that wasn't enough. Barry's emptiness had turned to anger. He needed to get back at Joe. He needed to get back at the entire legal system!

It was that moment that he saw a news report on the TV about how the Kahndaq Dynasty diamond had almost been stolen a few nights ago. Joe West stood tall and proud on camera as he announced to Central City that they put extra security on the exhibit to ensure the safety of the artefact. And, in that moment, Barry had an idea. Was it stupid and reckless? Maybe. But Barry suddenly knew the perfect way to get a bit of retribution.

He was going to steal the diamond.

[] [] []

Len was angry. No. Angry wasn't a strong enough word to describe how Len felt. He was livid. This was why he didn't like working with a new crew… they made mistakes and took detours from the plan. He'd told them again and again that it was vital they stuck to the plan. But, no, they hadn't listened. And because of that, there was a security guard in the hospital and the Kahndaq Dynasty diamond had made it safely to Central City Museum.

Now Len was just going to have to do the job by himself. It wouldn't be impossible… more difficult, he conceded, but not impossible. Len sat in one of his safe houses as he stared up at the TV screen: the local news station was doing a report on the botched diamond heist and Detective West, the very man who had been trying and failing to pin crimes on him for the past fifteen years, was on screen announcing that the diamond would be safe. Len smirked into his drink. He'd already encountered West's extra security and it was lax at best; they hadn't even noticed Len's surveillance of the building and exhibit these past few days.

He'd been biding his time to finalise the new plans, but now he was ready. Tonight was the night that the Kahndaq Dynasty diamond would find a new home. And then he could finally be out of this town.

He'd only had a couple of nights to monitor the guards' movements, but Len was confident enough with his information to proceed. He waited until the shift change-over, when they would likely be away from the monitors, before tugging on his balaclava mask and sneaking into the building. He moved quickly but silently through the room but froze in his spot when he saw a flash of bright light in front of him. He waited but nothing else happened and so he slowly began moving forward again.

As Leonard approached the security offices, which were supposed to be empty during the shift change, he heard a muffled shouting coming from inside the room. Carefully, Len looked inside to see all of the guards tied up and gagged.... which could only mean that there was another thief in the building. Len started moving faster then. When he got to the exhibit he was looking for, his eyes assessed the room thoroughly.

There was only one man here, dressed in black skinny jeans and a black hoodie pulled over his head to obscure his face in shadows. The man was facing the diamond in the display case and hadn't yet appeared to have noticed Leonard's presence in the room. One man. No crew. Seemingly unarmed. Len could take him.

Stepping forward, Len raised his gun in the direction of the thief. The man in the hoodie must have heard his footsteps because he quickly turned around. His face was still mostly obscured in the dark room, but Len could tell that he was young and likely inexperienced. This was probably one of his first heists.

"Thanks for dealing with the guards, Kid. But I'll be taking the diamond," Len drawled and his previous theory was all but confirmed when the man raised his hands in the air and stepped away from the case, admitting defeat without even putting up a fight. This man was definitely new to the job, Len didn't need to hurt him. He kept the gun pointed at the man, though, just in case he got any bright ideas. "Feel free to help yourself to anything else here, though." Len flicked the gun as he spoke, to encompass the other exhibits at the museum, emphasising his words.

"How thoughtful," the guy muttered back, making Len smirk. He moved forward and the younger thief moved away from the diamond. Len kept the gun trained on him with one hand as he broke open a panel underneath the glass case with his free hand. Len'd had lots of practice over the years dealing with security systems and so he easily and quickly disabled the alarm and unlocked the shatter-proof glass case.

Len lifted the lid, his attention now divided between the diamond in reaching distance and the other thief in the room, and picked the diamond up. He removed it from the case and felt the weight of it in his gloved-hand for all of a second. But then he blinked at the diamond was gone, a sharp breeze suddenly whipping past him.

"Thanks for dealing with the alarm," a male voice parodied behind him and Len spun around to see that the young thief was now standing next to the exit with the diamond in his hand and a grin on his lips visible from where the hoodie had been slightly displaced. Len knew that his mouth was hanging open in astonishment, so he shut it and aimed the gun again at the fellow thief. But the kid was too fast and had already run away from the building, leaving behind a trail of lightning and the sound of laughter, before Len could fire a single bullet.

Len blinked several times, his brain trying to play catch-up with the situation. He slowly lowered his gun and clicked the safety back on, deciding that it was time to leave before one of the guards was able to break free of the restraints. He couldn't help but be impressed and intrigued by the other thief. He'd heard stories about metahumans, people with extraordinary and impossible abilities, in Central City but he hadn't actually _believed_ it. Not until right now, that was.

By the time Len got back to his safe house, his heart was racing with excitement. This changed things. If he was now competing with thieves who could run at the speed of light, then Len would have to up the ante. The game had been getting so… boring lately. But this new criminal with superspeed was a challenge. And Len did always love a challenge. For the first time in a long time, Len felt invigorated. He hadn't felt this excited for the job since he was first starting out…

First things first, Len had to find a way to compete. His wit and knack for planning only took him so far and if he wanted to be able to play at this new game then he would have to find a new angle. Len might not be capable of running at this kid's level, but maybe he could slow him down to Len's?

All thoughts of fleeing the city behind him, Len drew up some plans over the next few days. But he knew that creating a weapon that he could use to slow down the speedster would take a very long time. And so he called up an old acquaintance who had a particular niche for selling specialised, one of a kind, weapons. By the end of the day, he had his cold gun in his hands.

He tested the gun out for a few days before he confirmed that it was the perfect fit for what he needed. The scientists who had made the weapon in the first place tracked him down though and attempted to get the gun back. Len easily gave them the slip. He found and deactivated the tracking device in the cold gun that they had obviously used to track him, and then he was ready to go.

The next part took a little bit longer. Len analysed the diamond heist, and every report of it, over and over again. He waited to find crimes with similarities in the way that they were carried out, where the thief hadn't been seen and the guards didn't seem able to recall how they had gotten from patrolling the building to tied up in the security offices. Soon, a pattern was forming. If all of these thefts were committed by the same speedster that Len had encountered, then he seemed to choose his new targets based on what items were currently at large in Central's media. There had been a news report on every single one of the items only a day or two before the speedster had stolen them. With about a two-week break in between each theft.

When Len felt like he had the speedster's pattern down to a T, he decided it was time to re-join the game. At this point, there were a few other metahumans surfacing on the news… but Len was only interested in the one. The two-week break period was almost over and so Len kept a watchful eye on all news reports, calculating how likely it would be for the speedster to show up and attempt to steal the objects in question.

Eventually, there was a report on an auction that got Len's attention. It was taking place tomorrow afternoon and the main piece, an antique necklace from Italy, was potentially worth millions. Len figured that it was the best place to start his search for the speedster and decided to take a chance on the younger thief showing up.

Len managed to place a virus in the security cameras at the warehouse where the auction was going to take place, making the monitors replay the same four minutes of footage on repeat so that the security wouldn't notice him in the building. With that in place, he lay in wait for the speedster to appear. Len wasn't willing to wait for very long (it was just too risky); if the kid didn't show then he'd just have to take the necklace, leave, and try again another day.

Luckily, though, twenty minutes later there was a bright flash of light down the corridor. Len stood a little straighter in his hiding spot and only had to wait another moment before there was a disturbance in the air and, suddenly, the speedster was in the warehouse and scanning through boxes.

Len powered up his cold gun but kept it hidden under his parka so that the kid wouldn't see the bright lights emitted from it. He waited until the younger thief had done all the grunt work and found the necklace in a crate before Len stepped out of the shadows. Quickly, he aimed his gun at the speedster's feet and fired. The man yelped, likely more in surprise than pain though because Len had made sure that the cold gun was on the lowest setting. It created a semi-permanent cold ice-like substance that wasn't going to hurt the speedster, but it would definitely keep him stuck there for the time being. Len smirked and stepped completely out of the shadows, resting his gun on his shoulder.

"Not so fast," he drawled. The kid just stared up at him, mouth agape, and Len got his first real look at the speedster's face. He really _was_ young; it hadn't just been a trick of the light in the museum. And he was also very attractive: big eyes, solid jawline, and high cheekbones. Len shook that thought away and reached forward to pluck the necklace from the speedster's hand. "Tit for tat, Kid. You stole my diamond... I steal your necklace."

"You're the guy from the museum!" The speedster realised and Len shrugged.

"Guilty. The name's Captain Cold," Len drawled, repeating the name that Cisco Ramon had given him when he'd attempted to retrieve the gun. "And I'd love to stay and catch up," he remarked, stepping away. "But I really have to run. See you around, Kid."

"What? I don't get a codename?" The speedster muttered and Len noticed a smile on his face. Good. This would be more fun if the kid was also enjoying the game.

"If you want a cool nickname, then you've got to earn it, _Kid_." Len, knowing he only had another 53 seconds until the ice-like substance around the speedster's feet became pliable enough for him to break free, turned on his heel and strode out of the building with the diamond necklace in his gloved hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I very nearly forgot to post today because I'm binging on Yuri on Ice (if you've never watched it then you should because it is so very, very gay. You'll love it. If you have seen it then _shhh_ , no spoiler's please, I'm only on episode 6 right now). Anyway... thoughts on the first chapter? Next chapter will be posted Monday 12th December.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter is 5 weeks later than I promised it would be. At first it was because I forgot that I had promised a new chapter only 3 days after the first so I took my time relaxing after Coldflash week… but then I came under a lot of pressure at university and basically just lost all creative inspiration. Anyway, exams are over now so I’m feeling better again. I’ll keep my promise this time and update once a week :)

Len found himself enjoying this game with the speedster more than he'd expected. It wasn't just about the challenge; the kid was just… fun. Though the challenge of beating a speedster to a job was definitely exciting and it forced Len to get more creative with his plans.

Len wondered if the speedster would attempt another heist after losing out on the necklace, but he didn't hear any reports of robberies that fitted with the younger thief's pattern. Coming up to the next two-week mark, Len was sure that the speedster would be itching for a new target and Len considered just leaving him to it. He usually only committed two or three heists a year anyway, but the thought of going toe-to-toe with the boy again was thrilling and Len decided he didn't want to pass up an opportunity. And, after all, it wasn't as though the police had connected him to the cold gun yet; it wasn't part of his normal MO, and neither was the seemingly impossible way that the guards came to find themselves tied up, and so there was no reason for them to come sniffing around him.

The heist this time was at an art gallery. The kid managed to dodge his blasts from the cold gun and get away with the painting, and Len was interested to find that he still wasn't even annoyed to have lost this round. He only felt excitement for the next one.

Another two weeks later and the next heist was a diamond bracelet from inside the third floor safe of a large jewellery store. When Len showed up, the guards were already dealt with and Len sighed, thinking that he might have missed the speedster already. He went ahead up the elevator to the third floor, anyway, and was relieved to see the kid waiting for him.

"Didn't think you were going to show," the speedster muttered and Len smirked.

"Traffic's a nightmare," he snarked and the kid laughed. Len took a moment to appreciate the man's wide grin and then he powered up his cold gun. He knew that the speedster would be able to dodge the first blast and so he had his gun set to the highest setting, instantly creating a trail of thick ice on the ground. The younger thief hadn't been expecting that and so, when he stepped to move out of the way, he instantly lost traction on the slippery surface and ended up on his ass.

"Ow," the kid muttered, his hood having fully fallen off his head this time, as he lay flat on his back and stared up at Len. Leonard shrugged and stepped over him, carefully avoiding the ice.

"You snooze, you lose," he drawled as he fired at the keypad, disabling it to allow him into the vault. He quickly grabbed the diamond bracelet and shoved it into the pocket of his parka. When he returned to the main room, the speedster just finished scrambling to stand up. Len lowered the setting of his gun once more… just in case he needed to use it. But then he heard the approaching soft tap of footsteps down the hall and he tensed. There was someone else in the building. Len realised that he hadn't counted the guards this time and so it was possible that the speedster had missed one. And if that was true then said guard sounded only moments away from walking past the large window and spotting the two thieves at work.

Without pausing to think, Len rushed forward and pushed the speedster back until they were both pressed firmly up against the opposite wall and out of sight. The other thief's eyes were wide and he looked like he was about to say something and so Len cover the speedster's mouth with one of his hands. Len raised his free hand up to his own lips in a shushing motion and it was only then that the speedster seemed to notice the footsteps outside of the room.

"You're getting sloppy, Kid. Didn't quite get all of the guards this time," Len whispered, his lips _just_ brushing against the speedster's ear, and the younger thief seemed to blush.

Len waited until the lone guard had passed them before moving his hands away but he remained pressed up against the other man, enjoying the sight of the frazzled young speedster. He couldn't help but notice that the boy was looking back at Len in much the same way. And, well, if the other thief was as interested in this as Len was, then what was the point in denying themselves a little bit of off-the-job fun? Age difference be damned.

"Do you want to go grab a drink?"

"Now?" The younger thief asked, surprised by the sudden question, and Len shrugged.

"Why not?" He drawled and finally decided to take a step back so that their bodies were no longer flush against one another. "I'd think fast, Kid. We've only got another 20 seconds before that guard finds his way back to the main desk and stumbles upon all of his buddies tied up. So, I think it's time that we make a cool escape."

That seemed to snap the younger man back into action: he moved forward, grabbed Len's shoulder, and the next second was a blur. Literally. Len's entire world blurred around him, it was weightless and dizzying. When the world stopped spinning a few seconds later, Len was suddenly standing outside. He blinked to clear his mind and smirked at the speedster, despite his slight nausea.

"Thanks for the lift. So, how about that drink?" He asked and the boy nodded, an almost _shy_ smile on his lips.

"I could drink." The kid had only taken them a couple of blocks away from the jewellery store and so they were still fairly close to where Len had parked his bike. He started moving and motioned for the speedster to follow.

"The name's Len," he said as he pulled off his goggles and hood, noting the appreciative glances he got when the kid was now able to see his face in full.

"I'm Barry."

"So, Barry, do you want a lift to the bar or are you happy running?" He asked as they neared Len's bike and Barry accepted the offered helmet, climbing on behind Len. "Hold on tight," he drawled and Barry's grip tightened as he started the engine and drove quickly away from the crime scene. Len took him to Saints and Sinners, it was a small bar only five minutes-drive away which had a… particular clientele.

Len led him inside and towards the bar, it was fairly busy tonight but there were plenty of staff behind the bar to serve them.

"Where are we?" Barry asked and Len frowned, he thought that every criminal in Central knew about Saints and Sinners.

"You really _must_ be new to the job if you don't know about Saints," Len answered. Barry frowned and so Len shrugged and lead them to the bar as he explained. "It's a safe house. The owner's been running bars like this for as long as I can remember. As soon as one starts drawing heat the place goes under and a new bar gets opened up with a new name in a new location, seemingly under new management." This all seemed to be completely new information to Barry and so Len asked: "how long _have_ you been in the game?"

He'd done his research into the speedster while tacking him and so Len knew that the pattern began with the theft of the Kahndaq Dynasty diamond, but did that mean it was Barry's first heist? Or was it simply his first solo heist, or first heist since he developed superspeed (which Len was still extremely curious about and fascinated with)? Barry stuttered a bit before finally admitting, quietly, that the diamond had been his first hit.

"I'd only planned on stealing that one thing," Barry muttered as Len slid a glass in front of him. "I hadn't put much thought into it, really. It was just a revenge thing. But then…" Barry trailed off but Len understood exactly what the younger man was trying to say.

"It was addictive," Len answered for him and Barry nodded. Len remembered his first heist, or the first voluntary one anyway (when he was being forced to steal because of his dad it didn't feel good at all, but when it was his choice… everything changed). Just like Barry, he'd never wanted it to be anything more than a one-off job. But as a teenager with not even a high school qualification to his name, he'd had to find _some_ way to bring in enough money to look after his little sister once his dad had been arrested. He'd gone in for only one heist, but that rush of adrenaline and endorphins had been _euphoric_. It was exciting and dangerous and the biggest high that he'd ever experienced.

"Yeah."

"Can I ask… how does stealing a diamond get you revenge?" Len asked and Barry's eyes darkened, his jaw tensing. Len watched Barry's face carefully and noticed the flood of anger and sadness etched across his features. That kind of intense reaction could only mean one thing… Whatever had happened, it had ended in the death of someone that Barry loved.

"It's complicated," Barry eventually muttered and then sipped his drink.

"How about a game of pool?" Len asked instead, taking the hint that it was something that Barry would prefer not to talk about. Barry looked at the empty table behind him, shyly.

"I've never played before," he admitted and Len smirked.

"Do you want to learn?" Barry nodded after a moment and so Len led him to the table, placing his tumbler on the wooden edge of the pool table and grabbing two cues from the side. "The game's simple," he said, "there are 4 types of balls: the cue ball, the spots, the stripes, and the 8 ball which has to be potted last, if you pot it too soon then you lose. We take it in turns. If you pot a ball, then you get another turn. The first ball potted determines which type you're supposed to pot. If you pocket the cue ball, pocket or touch any of the stripes while you're spots or vice versa, or don't touch any ball when it's your shot, then I get an extra turn. First one to pocket all of their balls plus the 8 ball wins."

He fed the machine the change to release the balls and Barry watched as Len racked them, making sure to leave the black 8 ball in the middle of the triangle. He moved to the head of the table and indicated for Barry to join him before placing the cue ball down and passing Barry a cue with some blue chalk.

"Here," Len muttered as he directed Barry's body into the correct position. Len gently guided Barry's left hand into the best shape for the cue to sit on, seeing Barry cheeks heating up out of the corner of his vision. "When breaking, you want to hit the balls as hard as you can to disperse them as much as possible," he instructed before getting up and walking to the side of the table. He pointed to an area just off centre of the triangle of balls. "Lower your head to look down the stick while aiming. And try to hit the cue ball here."

Barry nodded and so Len backed up and watched as the younger man took his shot. The balls at the end of the table dispersed slightly and Len nodded.

"Not bad," he encouraged. Looking at the table, he saw that he could easily pocket three different balls… but he decided instead to break the mass of balls at the centre of the table open further to take it easy of Barry. He nodded for the younger man to take his turn and then stepped away from the table. Barry moved around the pool table and leaned across it to make his shot, giving Len an excellent view of his ass in the process.

Len allowed himself to appreciate the view, not even looking up when he heard the tell-tale sound of a pool ball sinking into a pocket and only raising his eyes away from the tight black denim confinement surrounding Barry's ass when the young man turned around. Barry was grinning with triumph but he must have caught the way that Len had been checking him out because he was suddenly blushing. And _God_ , no criminal was supposed to act this nervous and shy. It was different… _enticing_.

"You're a fast learner," Len smirked, not commenting on the heat that was quickly covering Barry's body but enjoying it nonetheless.

"I guess I had a good teacher?" Barry laughed, sounding a little unsure but just as alluring. Len checked the side of the table and saw that Barry had pocketed a stripe, meaning that Len was spots. After Barry attempted to get another ball in a pocket and missed, Len stood up to the table again. He potted a couple of balls before deciding to let Barry have another turn. It was only fair that he gave the kid a chance, after all.

They played a few games and talked. Barry was getting fairly good and more confident, even going so far as to copy Len's move of bouncing the cue ball off the side of the table when the way was obstructed. Leonard allowed Barry to win one of their games and Barry pretended not to know that Len was going easy on him. It was fun, even with the group of bar patrons sitting in the far corner and watching their every move.

Len was well known in this particular bar but Barry was a newbie and these criminals were notoriously suspicious of new meat. Len considered warning them off but figured that Len's interest in Barry, since he's never been one to work with a newbie, was at least part of the reason they seemed so curious. Warning them away might just make it worse in the long run, he realised, and so he left them be. Barry, however, seemed completely oblivious to their watchful gazes for the majority of their games. But he happened to look up before taking a shot during their third game and he paled instantly, looking nervous all of a sudden.

"I'm going to guess that this isn't the kind of bar you're used to?" Len asked as he watched Barry fudge the shot and attempt to avoid eye contact with the men watching them.

"Erm, no. Not exactly," Barry laughed and Len nodded, everything about the younger man sang newbie… which was why it was surprising how good he was at the job. It was more than just the superspeed helping him out. Barry never left any evidence, not according to the police reports that Len had read when he'd still been trying to put together the speedster's pattern: not a fingerprint, strand of hair, or drop of blood. He never stilled long enough to let the guards see him as anything more than a blur, and he always managed to disconnect the security cameras on arrival meaning that all the cops saw was a streak of lightning on screen before the camera went blank (a streak that they had misinterpreted as some kind of power surge). It was impressive how Barry could do that without any prior experience… Len, in fact, knew _many_ lifelong criminals who weren't that good.

"Maybe next time you can pick the place then?" He suggested, not wanting Barry to be uncomfortable.

"Next time?" The younger man asked, seeming happy. "As in a second date? I mean, that's what this was, right? A date? I don't mean to assume, I just… If not, then that's completely okay too!" Barry rambled and Len laughed at him before nodding, putting the younger man out of his misery.

"It's a date," he confirmed and Barry sighed in relief, smiling softly. They returned to their game but Barry wasn't able to relax as much now that he knew people were watching them and so Len decided to call the night over. He grabbed his parka from the nearby booth that he'd dumped it in and escorted Barry from the building and back to the carpark. He shrugged the parka back on but left it open and unzipped, feeling comfortable in the outside air. Barry's shoulders relaxed for a moment as they left the bar and the watchful presence behind them. But then he tensed again, crossing his arms against the cool breeze outside.

"This was fun," Barry said. "I've not really done anything like this in a long time."

"You're far too young and attractive for me to believe that," Len drawled and smirked when he got the desired blush from the younger man. Barry laughed and shook his head. And when they made eye contact again, Len leaned forward and captured Barry's lips with his own. Barry sunk further into Len's embrace, wrapping his arms around Len's waist under his parka as he deepened the kiss.

It was a good kiss, maybe a little bit messy. There was the slightest clash of teeth for a moment, but it was the perfect amount of tongue and Barry was making these soft whimpering noises that made Len melt. Len's hands slipped down Barry's body and he firmly gave the younger man's ass a squeeze, making Barry jump and let out a short huff of a laugh before they resumed making out in the car park.

Len could feel Barry's fingers move against his torso and noticed the exact moment that they slipped inside the pocket of his parka, but he pretended that he couldn't feel it and allowed the younger man to continue.

When they eventually pulled apart, Barry grinned and waved the bracelet they had stolen earlier that night in front of Len's face.

"I win," Barry declared and Len just laughed and kissed him again.


	3. Chapter 3

When Barry woke up the next morning, he saw the diamond bracelet lying on his bedside table and began to grin as he thought over last night. Everything with Len was just… easy and fun. Barry sat up on his bed and picked up the jewellery that he'd pickpocketed from Len last night as they were making out. Just thinking about that made his chest feel warm and fuzzy. He was actually, _almost_ , feeling back to normal again. He stood up and stashed the bracelet in the back of his closet along with everything else that he'd stolen over the past few months.

He thought about trying to sell everything; but Barry had never particularly worked robbery cases as a CSI and so he didn't know much, or anything really, about how he would go about doing that. But this had never been about the cash. Sure, the idea of getting money for the diamond's and paintings and jewellery he had stashed away didn't exactly leave Barry feeling bad… but that wasn't _why_ he did this, he was more focused on the _excitement_ that he could feel in his chest than he was on the money.

Barry showered, dressed, and made himself a couple of stacks of pancakes for breakfast as he thought about Len's number in his phone. Was it too soon to text him? Barry wasn't sure. Truth be told, he'd never been that good at this dating thing.

One little text wouldn't hurt… right?

Barry finished off the last of his mountain of pancakes and cleaned up before going in search of his mobile, wondering again about how he might go about selling his diamonds. He would have to do it soon if he wanted to be able to keep up this high carb intake diet that he needs to maintain his blood-glucose levels… God knows that he didn't want another repeat of his first few weeks as a speedster when he'd kept fainting every few days. He'd very nearly given in and returned to STAR Labs for their help before he suddenly realised that he was burning up too much glucose and becoming hypoglycaemic. Since that day, he'd made a massive dent in his savings on grocery shopping _alone_ and without a job, money was becoming a big worry.

Barry put that out of his mind as he spotted his phone near his bed and smiled. He sat down and unlocked it before spending the next two minutes staring at the empty text box as he attempted to think up a quick and cute text to send to Len. This was going to be their first written conversation, so Barry had to get it spot on: he had to write something funny. Or maybe flirty was the way to go? Should he mention the kiss or would that be too needy? What about text length? Surely it shouldn't be over three lines or else that would come across as too eager? This was the kind of thing that Barry would usually rely on Iris for...

Maybe he should text her instead? No, that was stupid. He was a grown-ass man! He could do this by himself… Barry felt nervous and exhilarated as he typed ' **hey'**. Was that good enough? Or was that too fuck boy-ish? He deleted it and wrote ' **hello** ' instead, before making a face and quickly deleting that too… it was far too formal. But ' **hi** ' was too preppy.

God, why was this so difficult? How could just one word be so telling? First impressions… they were so difficult to get right. And it was the same for first texts as it was for first conversations. Every word had to be precisely chosen…

Okay, so ' **hey** ' made him sound like a fuck boy… but if he followed it up with another sentence then that would be better, right?

To: _**Len  
**_ Draft: **_8:25am_  
** **Hey. Last night was great**

Barry looked over the text a couple of times and bit his lip as he thought. Was that good enough? Should he ask some sort of question too? And what about emojis? No, Len didn't seem like the emoji type.

Barry's thumb hovered over the send button for a few seconds before he heard a knock on his apartment door. He'd been keeping away from pretty much everyone he knew lately, the only exceptions being Iris and the delivery boys at his favourite takeaways (which he now saw on a near-daily basis. Shut up, that is _completely_ healthy!), and so it was unexpected to have unannounced visitors. He locked his phone and opened his door cautiously, barely stopping himself from sighing when he saw the man he'd once idolised sitting in a wheelchair in front of him.

Dr Harrison Wells had gone from a hero of his to a nuisance. When Barry had first woken from his coma he was jumping at the chance to have Wells as his mentor. But after his run-in with Clyde Mardon (and the subsequent argument with Joe when his foster father hadn't believed him about the existence of metahumans) he'd confronted Harrison about why the older scientist had kept the little detail, that other people had been affected by the particle accelerator explosion too, away from him.

Wells had belittled him and showed that, he too, didn't believe in Barry: calling him nothing more than a child who had been struck by lightning. And then, before Doctor Wells had even finished proving that he was still capable of stepping all over someone despite being in a wheelchair, Barry had gotten the call about his dad's death. He'd lost three mentors that day, within the space of an hour. He'd run away and quit visiting STAR Labs. Since then, Wells had been ringing Barry weekly in an attempt to lure him back into working with the lab again.

But apparently, the ignored phone calls and messages weren't a big enough hint that Barry just wasn't interested anymore, because now he was going to start dropping by his apartment?! This had to stop.

"Mr Allen," Wells greeted and Barry frowned, not moving out of the way to let him past the door.

"You're not seeming to get the point that I want to be left alone," Barry grumbled, far too stressed out at this point to be polite to the man who was basically stalking him.

"I understand that, Barry," the scientist stated with a respectful dip of his head. "But believe me, I've been where you are right now and I know that this is a mistake. You can't isolate yourself from everyone." Barry shook his head and crossed his arms defensively.

"Who says I'm isolating myself?" Barry objected. He knew that that was exactly what he was doing, but Wells didn't need to know that too.

"Who was the last person you even talked to? Besides the employees and Big Belly Burger."

"Iris," Barry answered honestly. She was the only one that he still trusted. He didn't spend much time with her anymore, but she made sure to text him every day without fail. He'd replied to one of her messages just last night before going to sleep after his heist-turned-date with Len. Dr Wells sighed and took off his glasses to clean them as he spoke.

"Having only one friend can be lonely, Mr Allen. You should come back to STAR Labs. We were really making progress looking into your abilities and the effects of the dark matter from the particle accelerator explosion. You could do some really great things for this city."

"I don't have only one friend!" Barry insisted, his thoughts returning to Len. "In fact, I met someone. We went on a date last night," he bragged. Wells pushed the glasses back onto his head and frowned at Barry. He looked annoyed as he asked his next question.

"Who?" He asked, his voice sounding suspicious and sharp.

"I don't owe you that information," Barry hedged, feeling defensive of not only himself but also Len and their newly blossoming relationship.

"Fair enough," Harrison eventually muttered after a deep sigh. "But, Mr Allen, I really do believe that it would be in your best interest to-"

"I'm not coming back," Barry growled out, interrupting the older man, and continued quickly when it looked like Wells was about to object. "I'm done with it. Once and for good." Barry moved back and slammed the door closed. Bolting it to keep the scientist out.

"I hope you change your mind," Wells eventually called through the wood and Barry just walked away from the door, hoping he would leave instead of just hanging around outside Barry's apartment.

Barry was suddenly agitated again, his good mood all but gone. Whenever this happened he would call Iris: she may not be able to really relate to what he was going through, and it _did_ still sting a little bit to see her with Eddie, but she was always there for him. And right now he needed her help to stop himself from crashing again.

That first job he'd done, the Kahndaq Dynasty diamond, had been on impulse. He was angry at the world, at the legal system… at Joe, for being the reason that Henry Allen had died. Because Joe… Joe had only ever pretended to listen and agree with Barry, while this entire time he thought that Barry was being nothing more than childish and naive. Joe had acted like he was on Barry's side this whole time, but that was all it was. An act.

Barry had quit the work he'd started with STAR Labs, taken a sabbatical from the CCPD for an undetermined amount of time, and he'd stopped talking to Joe. So far, he didn't regret any of those decisions. In that first month, Barry had felt so _empty_. Empty and angry. So he'd stolen the diamond that night, not giving himself the time to talk himself out of it. And, afterwards, he'd felt as light as air. A cocktail of adrenaline and endorphins were coursing through his veins and Barry didn't ever want to come down from it.

Eventually, though, the emptiness began to return. It had lasted a couple of weeks but once the news reports stopped airing and everyone began to forget about the diamond, Barry stopped feeling the thrill of being the one who had stolen it. The high was replaced with an itch under his skin. He tried to put it out of his mind for a while but he needed to feel _something_ again. And there was only one thing that he knew of that would work.

So his one-time theft had turned into multiple thefts. But none of them left him as exhilarated as the first one had. None of them, until Len had shown back up. There was something about competing with the other man that left Barry almost breathless. The sudden burst of excitement was a shock to his system, it was like the best drug in the world after months of only emptiness and rage. It was… amazing. Indescribable. He felt _alive_ again. And he couldn't go back to that emptiness. So Barry unlocked his phone and skipped from the messages to his contacts, calling Iris.

She answered after four rings.

"Barry?" Iris mumbled and yawned, obviously having been asleep. Barry realised suddenly that it was only half eight in the morning on a Saturday and he felt bad for waking her up: he wasn't sure if it was his depression, the fact he'd been in a coma for nine months, or his superpowers, but Barry didn't sleep much anymore.

"I… sorry," Barry muttered. "I didn't realise how early it is. I'll call you back later." Barry was about to hang up when Iris started speaking again, sounding more alert this time.

"No, it's fine, I'm awake. Are you okay?" She asked, seemingly picking up on the tone to Barry's voice. Or maybe she just knew that he was a firm believer in the 9-9 rule: you didn't call anyone before 9 am or after 9 pm unless something was wrong.

"I… not really," Barry admitted and told her what had just happened.

"I'm coming over," Iris insisted and hung up before Barry could say some placating lie about how he was fine really. She was at his apartment, still dressed in her pyjamas, half an hour later. They sat on the sofa and put on cheesy reality Netflix shows while wrapped in a big duvet… and it was exactly what Barry needed to help lift his spirits again. They were halfway through an episode of RuPaul's Drag Race when Barry brought up that he'd met someone.

Iris, obviously, got very excited. She immediately turned off the TV and faced Barry with an expectant look on her face. Barry scratched the back of his neck as he decided what information he could and couldn't tell her about Len. Obviously, the criminal thing was off limits, which meant he had to completely rearrange the story of how they'd first met too.

"I met him last night," Barry lied. "At a bar." Now that that part was out of the way, Barry went on to describe their first date in vivid detail: leaving out only the part of the criminal enterprise and how he'd pickpocketed his date when they were making out… other than that, he was completely honest. And Iris was genuinely excited for him.

Barry got up to get more popcorn and Iris picked up the TV remote again but she didn't press the power button. She fiddled with the remote for the minute it took for Barry to empty a bag into the large bowl and bring it back to the sofa. He burrowed himself back down into the blanket and Iris turned to face him, looking sad but serious.

"He misses you, you know," she said softly and Barry didn't need any clarification as to who ' _he_ ' was. It was the big purple elephant in the room that they had been hedging around for the past few months but never actually brought up. Until now, it seemed.

"That doesn't change what he said and did."

"You know… I told him about me and Eddie the other day," she started, after a brief pause, and Barry made eye contact with her. "He didn't even complain about us."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"No, Barry," she said delicately. "He didn't complain because he was scared to. He's already lost you and now he's terrified that he'll lose me too. He's not himself anymore."

"That's not my fault," Barry insisted, feeling anger bubble up inside his chest.

"He's tried to apologise," Iris reminded him and that made Barry snap.

"They were _empty_ apologies! As far as Joe is concerned, a murderer died in prison. But Henry Allen wasn't a murderer, Iris! He was my dad and he was innocent. Joe isn't sorry that he never believed me and he's not willing to believe me now. He's not even sorry that my dad is dead! He's just sorry that it's hurting me."

"Barry…"

"Do _you_ even believe me, Iris?" He muttered and Iris' eyes darkened as she stood up suddenly, the blanket that had been on her lap falling to the floor.

"How could you even ask me that, Barry?" She barked angrily. Iris looked offended and Barry lowered his head in shame. Why _had_ he asked that? Of course she believed him. She always had… hadn't she?

How was Barry supposed to know the difference between when he was being lied to and when his family was telling the truth anymore? Joe had always seemed sceptical when Barry brought up his dad's innocence, but Barry had honestly believed that he'd gotten through to his foster father over the years and that now Joe was on his side. But he wasn't. He had never been. So how could Barry ever know whether Iris was lying to him as well?

He couldn't.

"I know you've been through a lot lately, Barry. And I'm _trying_ to be patient with you, but _this_ has got to stop," she said sharply when Barry didn't reply. "My dad didn't kill your dad, Barry. He _arrested_ him. You need to stop blaming him for something that was _out of his control_. If you're going to be angry with someone then be angry with the bastard who stabbed him during that prison riot, because my dad had _nothing_ to do with that and you know it. Do you not care how much you're hurting him by shutting him out like this?"

" _Nothing to do with it_?" Barry echoed with a humourless laugh. "If Joe hadn't arrested my dad-"

"Then another cop would have!" Iris interrupted, she gathered her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "He was just doing his job. You said yourself that Joe cares when you are hurting. But you don't care when he is? That's not fair, Barry. And I'm not going to sit here and listen to you prosecute my father."

"Hey, you're the one who brought him up in the first place," Barry pointed out and Iris glared at him.

"Because you told me you met someone and I thought that you were _finally_ ready to go back to normal again! But I was wrong: I'm sorry," Iris snarked. "I've been sitting in the neutral zone for too long and watching you both suffer due to your decision, Barry. And now you're apparently holding some sort of resentment for me too? No. No more. You don't see that this anger is only hurting yourself! I've been _so_ patient. But I can't help you if you're not willing to _try_ , Barry Allen. I'm not going to just sit here and let you wallow anymore. Call me again when you're ready to start healing," Iris finished and stormed out of Barry's apartment, slamming the door behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Erm, so Barry and Iris' argument was supposed to give another side to this and turn this less into an anti-Joe fic... but I don't think it worked. In fact... I think it might now even be giving off an anti-Iris vibe too. And that was definitely not supposed to happen. Just to clarify, this fic isn't anti-anyone... well, except from maybe anti-Eobard Thawne. But we'll get to that in a later chapter :)


	4. Chapter 4

Barry thought about what Iris had said and he shook his head violently to himself. Did she _really_ think that Barry would just be able to _forgive_ Joe after what the man had said and done? As though it was that easy? Barry couldn’t do it; he _wouldn’t_ do it. All the man had ever really done was cause him pain: arresting Henry Allen, refusing to let Barry visit his dad in jail, lying to win his trust, and then betraying him. It all hurt too much. He knew deep in his heart that Joe was toxic for him, forgiving the man would only cause Barry more pain. And he wasn’t going to do that to his mental health.

Barry, looking for another distraction, picked up his phone and noticed a text on his screen. He smiled weakly when he read the name and thought that maybe there was another way to help _relieve_ some of his stress.

From: _**Len**_  
Received: _**9:57 am**_ **  
**How about we don’t wait until the next heist to see each other again?****

Barry quickly deleted the text he had been about to send before Wells had shown up and wrote something else in reply, not letting himself overthink it before clicking send.

To: _**Len**_  
Sent: _**10:09am**_ **  
******Are you free tonight?****

From: _**Len**_  
Received: _**10:09am**_ **  
******I can be****

Barry spent a moment texting Len and getting the details sorted for their date and, by the time he was saying goodbye and moving towards the shower, he started to feel lighter again already. 

[] [] [] 

“A carnival? _Really_?” Len asked, staring at the long queue of people in front of them who were waiting to buy tickets. 

“Yes, really. It’s perfect!” Barry exclaimed, grinning down at the leaflet he’d found which showed a long list of attractions and trying to decide which one to go on first. “Gross food, fun games, out of Central so that none of the cops who are working an extra job as hired security,” which Barry used to remember Joe doing a lot when Barry and Iris were kids, “will be able to recognise you,” _or me_ , Barry thought but didn’t say. “And even if they would normally be able to, it’s so busy that we’ll just blend right into the crowd.” Len thought about that for a moment before shrugging and Barry grinned up at him, feeling the win. "And anyway, I haven't been to one of these since high school," he admitted. "I used to be scared of roller coasters."

“But not anymore?” 

“Not since I developed the ability to out-run them,” he laughed and Len smirked. 

“Fair enough.” They got to the front of the line and Barry bought them both tickets, paying a bit extra to get the VIP bracelets that let them cut to the front of the queues. “So which one do you want to go on first?” Len asked as they walked through the gate and he took in his surroundings. Barry looked back at the flyer in his hand and shrugged. 

“Erm… bumper cars?” Len nodded and led Barry further into the crowd and in the direction of the rides, his hand placed pleasantly on Barry’s lower back. 

“Okay,” Len drawled, his voice was like velvet and Barry didn’t know if it was the voice or the casual contact that made his heart flutter. “But don’t expect me to go easy on you.” 

“Deal.” 

After the bumper cars, they went on the Himalaya, the twister and the zero gravity rides. Barry came away seeing double so they had a break and grabbed some burgers and fries from the burger van, which Len insisted on paying for even after Barry told him he'd need to get two burgers because of his fast metabolism. He'd eaten quite a lot today already because he hadn't wanted to pig out during a date, but it still didn't fill the seemingly-bottomless pit that was his stomach.

They went on a couple of the calmer attractions then, taking their time in the fun house and haunted barn. It was only during the latter one when Barry realised that he’d missed Halloween. It hadn’t really clicked with him before because trick-or-treaters didn’t tend to visit his street, preferring to knock on family homes more than apartment buildings, and so he hadn’t truly realised that the holiday had passed. 

Barry suddenly felt a knot in his stomach that had nothing to do with the teenagers dressed in killer clown outfits jumping out at them. He’d usually work on Halloween night because of how busy it got at the precinct. But Iris would always insist on him going out with her and some friends the weekend before, getting dressed up in crazy outfits that she would pester him about all month to make sure he put a lot of effort into it. It was one of his favourite nights of the year. 

But she hadn’t even mentioned it this year. He probably wouldn’t have said yes, anyway, what with grieving the loss of his father. And he would have likely been the only sober person out, due to his hyper-metabolism, and that was never very fun. But, still, he felt unsettled having missed it.

Len, seeming to misunderstand Barry’s sudden sullenness, wrapped his arm around Barry’s shoulders and kept him close for the rest of the time it took for them to finish the attraction. Feeling Len’s warmth around his body and his breath against his neck slowly unknotted Barry’s stomach, making him, temporarily, forget his woes. 

The sun had finally set now and the entire fair was lit up with bright colourful lights. While the sun had been up, the place had looked a bit flawed and tacky. But now it was beautiful and maybe even romantic? With that thought in mind, Barry dragged his date onto the Ferris wheel. 

“I can’t tell if you’re actually enjoying this or just amusing me,” Barry admitted as they took their seat and Len shrugged. 

“I’ve never seen the point of carnivals,” Len admitted. “But I’m enjoying spending time with you.” 

“Oh, who would have thought that _Captain Cold_ could be so gushy and cute?” Barry laughed to hide the blush in his cheeks. 

“Don’t call me gushy,” Len remarked sternly, but there was a softness in his eyes. 

“Oh, of course not. Nope. Nothing gushy about you,” Barry joked and Len rolled his eyes. They were at the top of the Ferris wheel now and they both turned to look out onto the world below. It was peaceful all the way up here, the sounds of laughter and screaming down below seeming more distant than they really were. There weren’t many other people on the ride and so it was like the world had carved out a little pocket of time just for himself and Len. 

Feeling brave, Barry reached his hand across the leather seat and entwined his fingers with his date’s. There was a moment where Barry held his breath, not knowing if he was pushing something too far: hand holding wasn’t exactly something you associated with criminals, after all. But then Len smirked and gave Barry’s hand a squeeze, keeping their finger entwined throughout the rest of the ride. 

When the ride ended and Barry scrambled onto his feet, Len took his hand once more. Somehow the little bubble that they had found up on the top of the Ferris wheel remained as they walked together. Barry grinned: he’d never felt so instantly attached to someone as he did to Len. He was truly comfortable around the older thief, even though they barely knew each other. 

“So, where to next?” Len asked, his lips close to Barry’s ears to be heard over the screams coming off of a nearby attraction. Barry, having lost the leaflet, looked around the area for a moment before his eyes landed on one of the fair games and the collection of prizes hanging around the sign. 

“I’ve always wanted one of those,” Barry admitted quietly and Len quirked his eyebrow Barry’s way. 

“A giant teddy bear?” He muttered playfully and Barry shrugged. He remembered going to a fair with his parents when he was a child and trying his hardest to win the top prize, wasting all of his pocket money on it, but he was never able to beat the games.

“Well, yeah. What’s fun about a _little_ teddy bear?” Barry laughed and Len shook his head. 

“You know that the games at these things are always rigged, right?” 

“Yeah,” Barry sighed, though he still felt the urge to try. Len looked at him and then back to the booth before nodding. 

“Wait here,” Len drawled and Barry just blinked at him as the older man walked forward. When Len got to the booth, he called the employee working there over to him. Barry was standing too far away to be able to make out what Len was telling the man, but before long the guy was bolting away from the booth. Barry’s mouth hung open as he watched Len lean forward and take the largest stuffed teddy off the shelf in the now-unmanned booth. 

“Are… are you crazy? Someone could have seen you take this!” Barry stuttered as Len confidently strolled back. Len rolled his eyes and pushed the bear into Barry’s arms. 

“And I’m sure someone did,” he commented and lead them away from the booth. “But it’s all about body language, Barry. You act like you’re not doing anything wrong and people won’t question it.” Barry worried at his bottom lip but realised that Len was right: no one cared that Len had stolen one of the prizes. He hugged the bear closer to him and frowned… it seemed he still had a lot to learn about being a thief. 

“… how did you get him to leave?” Barry eventually asked. 

“I have an eidetic memory and a habit of casing out my surroundings,” Len shrugged and led them into a queue for the confectionary stand. “I saw the guy walking away from a black BMW a few hours ago, with matching keychain in his hand. So odds are that it was his,” Len waved his hand towards the direction that the carnival employee had run and Barry turned to look, just now noticing that there was an employee parking section at the edge of the field behind the bumper cars. “So I simply asked if he happened to know who the owner was because I saw a woman puking all over it.” Barry snorted a laugh at that, not having expected Len’s answer, and then blushed and buried his face into the teddy bear’s head. 

“And he didn’t question why you would walk all the way across to the other side of the field to tell _him_ specifically instead of someone working closer?” 

“They never do,” Len smirked and Barry grinned. 

“Oh, so you’ve pulled this con before?” 

“Definitely.” Len turned to face Barry full on, his blue eyes piercing. “Though never before with the intention of stealing a giant teddy bear for my date.” _And_ Barry was blushing again. He looked down at said teddy bear and could feel his cheeks begin to ache from all of the grinning. 

He wasn’t even sure why he found that gesture so charming. Len had just stolen something and a few months ago Barry would have morally objected to being a part of the crime. But now he just didn’t care. He had changed so much in such a short period of time that he could barely even recognise himself. But maybe that was a good thing. Barry Allen had been stupid. He was hopeless in all aspects of his life: hopelessly in love with Iris, a woman who would never love him back. Hopelessly naïve to think that Joe ever believed in him. And hopelessly useless, never standing a chance at being able to free his father from jail no matter how hard he tried to. 

But the man that Barry was _now_ , the speedster, was different. He was stronger, smarter, and more in control than he had ever felt before. And maybe he was braver, too? Because the old Barry would have never have fisted his hand in Len's jacket and pulled the older man over into a kiss. But the new Barry did.

Len’s lips were a little cold from the cool winter air, but they were still soft and welcoming. The oversized teddy bear squished between their bodies as Barry drew Len closer to him, a grin on his face giving the kiss just a little bit too much teeth. 

He didn’t open his eyes as he pulled back, resting his forehead against Len’s. 

“How about we go back to mine for some coffee?” He muttered, which was another thing that the _old_ Barry Allen would never have been confident enough to suggest. He felt the muscles in Len’s face shift, probably into a smirk though Barry couldn’t see it, as the older man replied. 

“Sure. Coffee sounds great.” Barry felt his heart pick up a little bit as he gripped Len’s hand and lead him away from the crowd. He found somewhere private to the side of the haunted barn: somewhere where no one would be able to see him carry Len away in a flash of yellow lightning, the bright light blending in with the flashing lights surrounding them on the carnival attractions. 

Within seconds they were outside Barry’s apartment. He dug the key out of his pocket and unlocked the door, dragging Len inside by the collar of his leather jacket. He’d never been this forward with anyone before; he was surprised to find that he liked it, and Len seemed to be enjoying it too. Barry dropped the giant teddy on his sofa and then, the second that it was no-longer obstructing them, Len’s lips were on his own. 

This kiss was more urgent and fiery than the last ones. Len’s hands were all over him, pulling at his clothes but not pulling them off. Not _yet_ , anyway. Barry gave way to Len's touches but continued to pull him along as he walked back towards his bedroom. It was exactly smooth sailing, he bumped into a couple of walls and almost knocked a glass off of his kitchen counter on the way, but eventually, he was falling onto the bed and Len was climbing on top of him.

Len’s hand was on Barry’s jeans, slowly inching closer and closer to where his dick was straining against its denim confinement, and his tongue was in his mouth when the apartment phone suddenly began ringing. Barry ignored it completely and rolled them over so that he was straddling Len instead, his thighs on either side on the older man’s hips. He needed more. He needed to get closer: skin against skin. 

Barry's fingers began working at the buttons on Len's shirt but he only got halfway down before Len was tensing suddenly underneath him and his hands were wrapped around Barry's wrists to stop him from going any further. Barry sat up suddenly and frowned down at Len, about to ask what was wrong, as Len stared blankly back up at him.

"You're a badge," Len muttered, his voice completely flat, and it was only then that Barry started paying attention to the message that was playing on his answering machine: it was Harrison Wells again, because of course it was, and he was going on and on about how Barry should start back work with the CCPD and resume his help with STAR Labs. _Shit_ … This was not good timing.

“Erm… sort of?” Barry laughed nervously and then Len sat up, forcing Barry to move back. He was still straddling Len’s lap but there was none of the previous lust in his bed partner’s gaze. 

“And ‘ _sort of_ ’ means?” Len prompted, his voice and expression both completely blank.

“I haven’t technically quit. But I haven’t worked there in almost a year,” Barry said quickly. It was true, even if nine months of that year had been while he was in a coma and so it wasn’t his choice to have the time off. “I’m not going back there,” he said, more emotionally than he’d intended to. And somehow, saying it aloud and truly believing it, not just sneering it in arguments, was freeing. It was like a weight had been lifted from his shoulder. Len seemed to notice his sincerity because his guarded look dropped. The older man seemed a little unsure for a moment and Barry had the sinking feeling that he was going to get up and leave.

And so Barry did the only thing that he could think of: he kissed Len. He poured everything that he couldn’t say into that kiss. All of his pain and sadness and anger and, surprisingly, _hope_. Everything he had. Len was unresponsive at first and Barry was seconds away from giving up and pulling away before something seemed to break inside the older man and he just gave in.

Len was kissing him again, taking back control of the situation. He flipping them so that Barry was the one on his back and Len lay in-between his legs, making Barry squeak in surprise. His hands were roaming Barry’s body, _so close_ to where Barry needed them to be. Barry squirmed in complaint but Len just held him still and grinned against his lips.

It took a few more teasing nips at Barry’s lips before Len’s fingers _finally_ found their way to the button on Barry’s jeans. But Len didn’t even get to undo it before the phone began ringing again and Len broke the kiss once more.

"For fuck's sake," he muttered as he grabbed one of the cushions from the head of the bed and flung it with precise control at Barry's home phone, knocking it off of the table that was just in view outside of the open bedroom door, stopping it mid-ring. "I'll steal you a new one," Len deadpanned and Barry laughed breathlessly for a few seconds before pulling Len back down to continue.

Len didn’t waste much longer and instantly undid Barry’s zip, shoving his skinny jeans as far down his thighs as possible without breaking the kiss again. Len eventually pulled his lips away from Barry’s and leaned their foreheads together as his fingers brushed delicately across the outline of Barry’s weeping cock.

Barry fisted his hand into Len’s shirt and held on tightly as he shivered and bucked his hips up for more.

“You’re a horrible, horrible, person,” Barry complained as Len shifted away from Barry, not allowing the younger man to find any friction.

“Well… I am a criminal,” Len drawled and Barry laughed despite himself. Len smirked, and the fire behind his eyes sent more chills down Barry’s spine, as he lowered himself back down against Barry and slowly licked a stripe across his abs. And, _God_ , that really did make Barry shiver. It was like his nerve endings were exploding under his skin, in the best way possible. Was this another side effect of the particle accelerator explosion? Hypersensitivity? Because that would be a side effect that he could _definitely_ get behind.

Len continued to lick and suck his way across Barry’s abdomen, making Barry writhe and sweat and shake in response. Until, eventually, Len lowered his head just that little bit further and mouthed at Barry’s erection through his boxer briefs.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Barry slurred, though it came out a little… distorted as his body shook violently from the sensations. Barry realised suddenly that this wasn’t just some shiver: he was _vibrating_! And, from the way that Len had sat back on his knees suddenly and was looking down at Barry with a mixture of wonder and lust, it hadn’t gone unnoticed by his bed partner either.

“… Do you think you can do that again?” Len asked, his eyes darkening and the smirk returning to his kiss-bitten lips. He delicately ran the tips of his fingers across Barry clavicle and then down to scratch carefully at Barry’s nipple. Barry vibrated again without warning.

“Does… does that answer your question?” Barry laughed and Len lay back down on top of Barry and kissed the younger man as his hand found its way back to Barry’s dick and started teasing him with a mixture of delicate and purposeful touches.

“Fuck me,” Len muttered, practically _demanded_ , against Barry’s skin and Barry nodded breathlessly, only happy to oblige. He flipped them quickly and used his superspeed to completely undress them both and to retrieve condoms and lube from his bedside drawers. Len’s gaze was still just as heated and filled with something akin to awe when Barry re-joined him on the bed.

Barry wanted to take his time and watch the older man writhe underneath him for _hours_ , but he couldn’t wait that long! He coated his fingers in lube quickly and slid them against Len’s hole. The man beneath him shifted his hips and rearranged his legs to allow Barry better access to him and Barry swallowed thickly at the beautiful invitation.

As Barry pushed his first finger against Len's tight rim, he took in the other man's form. Len was strong, muscular, and slim with a slight bit of pudge around his stomach. His skin was marred with scars but covered in beautiful tattoos that drew the gaze away from whatever ugliness had been in Len's past. One tattoo, in particular, caught Barry's attention: it was a delicate, twisting, design that ran from Len's collarbone around his ribcage and down to below his navel. Barry wanted to trace it with his tongue, and so he did.

Len moaned, bucking his hips, and so Barry inserted a second finger past his rim. Barry scissored Len open as he licked at his skin. And it wasn’t long before he was pushing a third finger passed that tight ring of muscle. Within minutes, Len was ready and begging for more: not verbally, but with the grinding and bucking of his hips down against Barry’s fingers and up in attempt to find friction against his weeping cock.

Barry withdrew his hand and slipped on a condom before applying a generous amount of lube over his hard dick. Len’s hands cupped and kneaded Barry’s ass as the younger man lined himself up against Len’s waiting hole. God, it had been too long since he’d last done this. He was quaking at the mere _thought_ of entering Len.

He bit his lip and wasted no more time pushing his cock inside. Len moaned loudly and continued to squeeze his ass in encouragement to keep Barry going. But, _God_ , Barry couldn’t help but pause once he was fully sheathed. Len was so _tight_ and warm. And Barry was shaking. No, _vibrating_! He could feel the speed force inside of him and didn’t know how to make it stop even if he wanted to. Which he definitely _didn’t_ want to!

“Fuck, Barry. You’re _unreal_ ,” Len practically sang as Barry began moving his hips in and out, Len bucking his hips underneath him to the pace that Barry set.

Len liked to make noise, it seemed, not holding back his moans and whimpers as Barry vibrated inside of him. A litany of curses spilt from the older man's lips as Barry fucked into him. Their bodies moved together, sweat glistening and the bed creaking loudly: the headboard knocking against the wall as Barry picked up the pace.

It was over too soon. They came together, screaming each other’s names for the world to hear. Or, at least, the apartment next door. The owner of which was banging angrily against the wall to get them to quiet down. Barry pulled out of Len and collapsed next to him on the bed, bursting with an uncontrollable laughter in response to his neighbour’s annoyance. He should probably feel guilty… but right then he was just too high from his orgasm to care.

He turned to face Len, seeing that the older man was already watching him with a look in his eyes that Barry couldn’t quite decipher. Len wrapped his hand around the nape of Barry’s neck and pulled the younger man down to him. Their lips met in a wet, lazy, dirty, kiss and Barry melted into Len. His arms and legs felt like rubber and he didn’t think he’d ever felt more sated and satisfied in his entire life.

“Do you have any towels?” Len asked when he eventually pulled away, his voice a little hoarse now.

“Airing cupboard next to the bathroom,” Barry mumbled. Len rolled off the bed and Barry got a great view of the criminal’s naked ass as he walked away to the cupboard. He came back into sight a moment later with a dampened towel in his hands. Len climbed back onto the bed and cleaned them both before chucking the towel to one side and then settling underneath the covers.

“Barry?” Len drawled, and Barry rolled onto his side so they were facing each other fully. “Why is the Kahndaq Dynasty diamond in your airing cupboard?”

“Huh?” Barry muttered as his orgasm-clouded brain couldn’t make sense of the words for a moment, confusing them as a euphemism. “ _Oh_ ,” Barry laughed and then half-shrugged once his brain finally caught up. “Yeah… I just haven’t got around to selling it on yet?” Barry admitted, thought his tone made it sound more like a question, and Len hummed in response.

“I have a good fence that might be interested in taking some of your stolen goods off your hands,” Len offered nonchalantly. “I could set up a meeting between you two if you’d like?” Barry nodded and kissed Len chastely in reply. “You don’t actually have the faintest clue how to be a criminal, do you?” Len drawled and Barry shook his head, laughing.

“What gave it away?"

“Do you want me to accompany you to the meeting?” Len suggested instead of answering and Barry nodded instantly.

“I’d like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I didn’t update last week. I had the majority of this chapter written in time and only had to add in the smut. But that can take me quite a while to write sometimes.
> 
> Anyway, I hope this was okay. Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts?


	5. Chapter 5

Len opened his eyes to the sound of someone moving around in a nearby room. He tensed for a moment before realising that he’d slept in Barry’s apartment last night. In Barry’s bed. The noises were coming through the thin walls separating Barry’s apartment from his neighbour’s. Len slowly turned to look at Barry: he was sleeping peacefully, his face smushed against the pillow. Len smiled despite himself and then shook his head.

He shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t have slept next to Barry and he _definitely_ shouldn’t have slept _with_ Barry. Not after what he’d heard from that message. He didn’t usually give into his urges. Leonard Snart thought things through carefully and calculatedly before making his move. But last night he didn’t. Last night he should have gotten up and left… or at least moved to the other side of the room so that he could talk to Barry without thoughts of sex clouding his judgement.

But that wasn’t what he’d done. And, worst of all, Len didn’t even regret having sex with the younger man. He should. But he didn’t. Len always got so reckless whenever he liked someone… whenever he _really_ liked someone. Which meant that he was in deeper with Barry than he had any reason to be after only two dates.

And then he had to go and offer to take Barry to his fence?! What had he been thinking last night? That was a terrible idea. His mind had obviously just been too clouded from his orgasm, from admittedly the best sex he’d ever had in his entire life, to realise that. Barry could be using him to bring down as many of Central’s criminals as possible. He was a cop, after all. So either he was undercover and this was all part of his job, or he was a corrupt cop… just like Lewis was.

That thought made Len feel ill: he didn’t know which option was worse.

With one last look over at Barry’s sleeping form, Len slipped from the bed and gathered his clothes off the floor before silently shrugging them on and leaving the bedroom. He looked at the giant teddy bear, that had been flung hurriedly onto the sofa last night when they’d arrived back from the carnival, and sighed. Len made a decision, one that he was sure he would come to regret: he stayed.

He kicked his shoes back off of his feet and placed them by Barry’s door. He scanned the apartment and then decided to make the both of them an omelette. He made a fresh pot of coffee too because he remembered Barry talking about how coffee-dependent he was during mornings. Len never actually touched the stuff though: it made him too impulsive and irritated; which were most definitely _not_ good qualities in his line of work…

Once the omelettes were nearly done and the coffee was ready, Len contemplated his next move. Should he bring the food to Barry or Barry to the food? On one hand, it would be simple to wake Barry up if he brought the food to him. On the other hand, Len needed answers and he doubted he would get many if he was forced to sit next to a naked Barry in his bed. With that thought in mind, Len purposefully flung a fork into the sink. The metal cutlery clanged loudly against the basin of the metal kitchen sink.

Len instantly heard movement in the bedroom as Barry woke up suddenly and came to investigate the noise. Barely four seconds later, the younger man stumbled out of the bedroom, his hair sticking up on one side where he had slept on it. Barry was wearing pants slung low on his hips and no shirt. For a moment, Len admired the younger man’s physique: which was something he hadn’t really gotten the chance to do last night. The entire encounter had become a little bit rushed once Len found out that Barry could _vibrate_! Something he could still barely believe had actually happened…

Barry was slim but well-toned. The baggy clothes that he wore during his days really did not do his shape justice. Len was overcome with the urge to lick every inch of Barry’s skin. He wondered if he could make Barry come using only his tongue…

“Len,” Barry greeted, seeming equal parts surprised and relieved that Len was still here this morning. Len managed to tamper down his lust and regain the logical side of his brain. This was the time for answers, not sex. Len smirked and plated out an omelette from the frying pan that he’d found in Barry’s cupboard.

“Good morning, Barry. Breakfast?” He offered him the plate and the younger man grinned. Len watched as Barry devoured the offered food within seconds.

Interesting.

Barry had mentioned something about having a big appetite before… he probably had to eat a lot of carbohydrates to ensure that all of his cells had enough energy to function properly. Len wasn't exactly an expert on the subject but he'd read a lot during the various times he'd spent in jail and, with his eidetic memory, it was fairly easy to recall diagrams on cell respiration from numerous textbooks. It was simple, really. Energy input needed to equal or exceed energy output. Barry used more energy than a regular human and so he needed to consume more simple and complex carbs to keep his body working right.

Len looked at the last omelette in the pan and quickly transferred it onto Barry’s plate. Len wasn’t hungry, anyway. He hardly ever ate in the mornings. He’d only actually chosen to make food this morning to give himself something to do, not because he wanted to eat. Barry smiled at him and finished off the second omelette, a little slower this time.

“More?” Len asked and Barry’s smile turned a little bit shy so Len took that to mean yes.

“You don’t have to,” Barry started and then frowned. “In fact, you shouldn’t. This is my apartment: I should be hosting you, not the other way around!”

“How about this, Kid: I’ll cook for you if you answer my questions.” Len held Barry’s gaze for a long moment. The kid looked so… honest and forthcoming. That one look had Len doubting everything he’d been thinking this past half an hour. Barry certainly didn’t seem like a dirty cop. And he didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would lie and sleep with Len just to get information out of him. He wasn’t like any other criminal Len had met. This was entirely new territory… but maybe, just _maybe_ , there was a third option that Len hadn’t considered yet.

Or maybe that was just his wishful thinking.

Len began preparing the food before Barry could agree to his terms. But soon the younger man nodded eagerly. Len took a moment to think over his questions but Barry beat him to it.

“You want me to explain about the phone call last night?” Barry asked. He sounded a little nervous but not so much that it made Len suspicious. Though Len wasn’t yet sure if he could trust his own instincts when he was around Barry.

“Yes. I do,” Len swiftly answered and kept one eye on his lover as he grabbed a fork from the drawer and began beating the eggs into the jug he was holding.

“Okay. Well, it’s a long story. But I’ll try to make it quick.” Barry sighed and rested his weight onto where his arms were crossed over the kitchen counter. “My mum was killed when I was a kid, and the police arrested my dad for it.” Barry shook his head, his eyes lowered to the counter and his finger tracing a pattern in the wood. “But it wasn’t him. No-one believed me though because what I saw sounded impossible. I became a CSI so that I could prove he was innocent.”

A CSI.

Not a cop, then. Not really, anyway. Barry didn't carry around a gun; instead, he sat behind computers in a lab. That made Len feel a bit better about the situation. A dirty cop was dangerous. But a dirty CSI? They couldn't beat anyone up during an interrogation or shoot anyone in cold blood, planting a gun on the body and pretending they had no other choice. All a CSI could really do was destroy evidence. And that… could come in handy, actually.

“But I was too late. He died in a prison riot a few months ago. And so I’ve been on sabbatical,” Barry finished. His voice sounded darker than Len had ever heard it. So much sadness and hatred behind those words. Len could only imagine what he must be feeling. If he lost Lisa today, then he would lose a part of himself along with her.

“I’m sorry,” Len said earnestly: there wasn’t even a doubt in his mind that Barry was telling the truth. He began frying the omelette and for a moment there was only the sound of sizzling filling the small apartment. “What did you see?” Len eventually asked and Barry looked up at him, his forehead creased from frowning. “When you were a child,” Len elaborated and understanding lit behind Barry’s eyes.

“The man that killed my mum,” he stated simply. “A man in lightning.”

“Another speedster?” Len asked, surprised. Barry only shrugged.

“I think so but… I don’t know. Not really.” The omelette was almost done but Len still had questions. He turned the heat down slightly and studied Barry for a moment as he picked his next one.

“Back at Saints, you told me that you stole the diamond because you wanted revenge. Revenge against who?”

“The legal system in general,” Barry admitted and then paused, chewing his bottom lip before continuing. “But, especially the man who arrested my dad.”

“Detective West?” Len guessed: he remembered the detective on TV, practically boasting about how secure he had made the Kahndaq Dynasty diamond exhibit, on the very day that Barry had stolen it. Len saw Barry’s surprise but just shrugged it off and plated out the omelette. He was good at reading people and situations, partially due to his eidetic memory, it was one of the reasons why he was so good at what he did.

“I… yeah. You know him?” Barry asked.

"Let's just say that he doesn't like me very much," Len replied. It was a bit of an understatement. West had been trying and failing to get enough evidence to stick to Len for the past fifteen years, of course back then he had been Officer West and not Detective West. Len placed the frying pan and jug in the sink, covering them both with washing-up liquid and hot water.

“Well, I’ve got you beat there,” Barry muttered in between mouthfuls of omelette. “Neither West likes me very much right now. Joe or Iris, his daughter,” Barry elaborated and Len leaned back against the counter, indicating that he was listening. “She’s mad at me for ignoring him.”

“Ignoring him?” Len questioned. “Meaning… what? That you would normally spend a lot of time talking with the man who wrongly arrested your father?”

“Actually…” Barry’s smile was weak and Len raised an eyebrow at him. “Yeah. He’s my foster father.” And that… well, that was something that Len hadn’t expected to hear.

“Interesting family you have there,” Len drawled, automatically sinking back into his criminal persona to avoid being caught out surprised. It was a reflex for him but Barry didn’t seem fazed by it: the younger man just shrugged and continued eating. Len watched the young speedster for a moment before standing up straight.

“I should really be going,” Len remarked, though he didn’t yet make to move. Barry jumped up from his seat anyway.

“Wait,” he called. “I mean… are you okay? With everything I just told you?... Will I still see you again?” Barry looked as though that had been the most difficult question he’d ever had to ask. Len shifted for a moment, his eyes flickering down before he met Barry’s gaze again.

“I hope so,” he smirked as he took in Barry’s glorious half-naked body and thought about the, quite frankly, amazing things that it could do. Barry’s neck turned pink under the attention but he smiled nonetheless. Len’s instinct was to trust Barry, but this kind of thing needed to be thought over carefully.

Len walked over to the apartment door and slipped on his shoes.

“I’ll be seeing you, Barry,” he drawled as he stepped through the door.

[] [] []

Barry was stretched across his sofa the next day and binge watching shows on Netflix. He hadn’t heard from Len since he left the apartment yesterday morning, but he wasn’t worried yet. It wasn’t like he had texted Len yet either. He’d wanted to, but he was playing it safe.

Just as he was contemplating getting up for snacks, there was a knock on the apartment door. Barry sighed, expecting it to be Wells again. He paused the TV and slowly got up and answered the door. Thankfully, it wasn’t Harrison Wells on the other side. Barry was surprised to see Len standing opposite him in the doorway, holding a cardboard box.

“Barry,” Len greeted and handed the box over.

“What’s this?”

“A new phone, as promised.” Barry couldn’t help but laugh at that: his old landline actually hadn’t broken the other night when it had clattered to the floor, the wires had just fallen out at the back turning it off, but Barry took the box from Len anyway with a smile on his lips. He turned around, silently inviting Len inside while he carried to box to the table.

“I didn’t expect to see you again so soon,” Barry admitted quietly after he heard the apartment door click closed.

“Well I talked to my fence but he’s leaving town tomorrow and he won’t be back in Central for a while. So if we’re still doing this, then it’s now or next month,” Len announced and Barry bit his lip as he turned around.

“I can do now,” he replied slowly and Len nodded.

"Great. There's still too much heat surrounding the Kahndaq Dynasty diamond right now so leave that here. He would buy it off you but he'd give you a lower price because of the higher risk. Everything else that's small enough to fit in your coat pockets, take it with you," Len directed and Barry did as he was instructed. He wore a long black cord coat with big pockets, which he stuffed full with necklaces, bracelets, and jewels that he'd stolen over the past few months. Afterwards, the only stolen items that remained in his pantry were the Kahndaq Dynasty diamond and a painting.

“Where are we going?” Barry asked once Len ended a phone call to the fence, confirming that they were ready to meet.

“Saints,” Len answered and guided Barry out of the apartment and towards a sleek black car.

“Is this yours?” Barry asked as they approached. It had obviously been well looked after, the paintwork looking so fresh that Barry could see his reflection glistening back at him.

“For now,” Len shrugged.

“So, you stole it?” Barry asked and Len only smirked over at him as they climbed inside. Barry wasn’t sure why he was surprised that Len had stolen a car. He was a thief, after all. They both were. But it was just so different from everything he’d been raised around that it would obviously take some getting used to.

“I’ve been using this fence for years,” Len said as he pulled the car away from the curb and began driving towards the bar. “He knows not to play games with me. He’ll offer you about 50% of the street value. It’s a fair price and probably the best offer you’re going to get as most newbies barely get offered 20%. If you don’t like the price, then you don’t have to take it. You can always try to sell them on your own without a fence but then there is a higher risk of getting caught. And finding someone who is willing to buy stolen jewellery is harder than you might think.”

Barry kept quiet and listened as Len explained to Barry what was going to happen in the meeting and what his options were. By the time they were parked up outside of Saints and Sinners, Barry was feeling agitated. He just had to hope that his worries didn’t show. There weren’t many other people in the bar at this time of day, just gone noon, and when they went inside Len led him directly to a table that another man was sitting at.

The man had sunken eyes, pale skin, and shoulder-length black hair. He was wearing a blue shirt with a light brown vest and he barely smiled as Len took a seat. Barry took the seat next to his lover and directly opposite the fence, feeling his heart quicken. How had stealing the diamonds felt so easy but selling them made him feel like _this_? Barry didn’t like it. He wanted this all to be over and done with as soon as possible.

“When you said you were working with a partner,” the man, who Len had called Mallus, said slowly. “I assumed you were talking about Mick.”

"Mick’s out of the equation, for now," Len answered swiftly. Barry couldn’t help but wonder who this Mick guy was… an ex of Len’s maybe? In that case, then why did he say ‘ _for now_ ’? Was he expecting to get back together with this guy? Then what did that make Barry?

As this was running through Barry’s mind, Len was still talking with the fence. Barry kept quiet and followed Len’s lead, taking the jewellery out of his pockets and spreading it across the table once prompted to. Mallus inspected every piece and then offered his price. Barry still didn’t say anything but nodded to Len that he was happy with the offer. Money and goods swapped hands and then Mallus quickly got up and left. The whole exchange took about a half an hour.

“You know, the food here is pretty good for bar food,” Len stated. “How about I get us a couple of burgers?”

“I… yeah. Sure. My treat,” Barry laughed and realised that he was still clutching onto the money from the exchange. He quickly shoved the notes into his coat pocket and Len paused for a moment but then nodded and got up to put their order in at the bar. When he came back to the table, he chose the seat on the opposite side so that they were facing each other.

“What are you thinking about?” Len asked, obviously seeing that Barry was a little preoccupied at the moment.

“Nothing. I mean, I was just wondering, who's... erm, who's Mick?”

“Are you jealous, Barry Allen?” Len asked instead of answering, his smirk was clear on his face.

“Well, no. I'm just, you know, curious. So he _is_ an ex then?”

"No," Len replied after only a short pause. "He was my business partner. But I've not seen him in a couple of years. He's keeping his head down. But trust me, you have nothing to worry about when it comes to Mick." Barry nodded, hoping that Len was telling him the truth. Eventually, Len began talking again. "So, now that you've had your first payday, how would you feel about setting up an off-shore bank account?"

“Erm… do I need one?” Barry asked and Len didn’t answer, he just let out a small huff of a laugh in reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, I’m a strong believer that Len is secretly a genius. In the comics he is the one who created the cold gun he's got to have a pretty great working knowledge of both physics and engineering. You could probably say that his talents lie almost entirely in those subjects, but I also don’t think Len is one to waste time and so I firmly believe that every time he ended up in prison he would use that time to pick up a new skill. It wouldn’t be too hard to do, considering his eidetic memory. At this point he’s probably a jack of all trades.
> 
> Also, yes, I gave Len self-doubts. So sue me. I know that in the large majority of fics, Len has everything sorted out. But I don’t really think that’s true. He may act confident, but that’s just because he’s talented at faking it.


	6. Snippet 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Barry is very up and down throughout this chapter. This whole angry depressed is a different kind of depression than I’m used to writing and so I hope it’s vaguely convincing.

Barry messed with his tie, trying to make it look perfect without strangling himself. God, he hated wearing these things! But, unfortunately, black ties were sort of mandatory at black tie events. Or, at least, that’s what Len had told him when Barry begged to just have an open collar. He swore, if he saw anyone without a tie tonight then he was going to kill them.

Barry gave up and threw himself down onto his bed. He screwed his eyes shut and took several deep, slow, breaths until he no longer felt aggravated. He couldn’t help that he was on edge lately; this was just how he got when he hadn’t stolen anything in too long. And, right now, it had been three and a half weeks since his last heist. He was itching to get out there tonight. This was longer than he’d ever waited between jobs before, but Len assured him that tonight would be worth it.

Two weeks ago, to the day, Len had shown up to one of their dates with two invitations to the reopening of Central City Museum's Diamond exhibit. And after that, it had all been about being patient. Well, Barry's patience was running thin at this point. It probably hadn't helped that Barry had quit his job as a CSI last week and had been harassed with phone calls from Wells, Joe, Iris, and anyone else that they could rope into this. He'd even been visited by Eddie yesterday, not that Barry had bothered to open the door.

This was all getting too much. He’d ended up unplugging his phone, powering down his regular mobile, and relying solely on the disposable phone that Len had bought for him. That helped to quiet the noise for the most part, but he was still jonesing for his next rush of adrenaline before he could properly relax again.

"You know if you want to stay in tonight… I could be persuaded."

Barry opened his eyes at the sound of Len's voice and turned to see his boyfriend standing in the doorway, leaning sideways against the door frame as his eyes roamed Barry's body. Barry realised that his shirt had ridden up his torso slightly when he'd flung himself back onto the bed and so he righted it as he stood up.

“Don’t you know how to knock?” Barry muttered, because Len hadn’t been in the apartment when he’d started getting dressed, and his boyfriend shrugged.

“I did; you didn’t answer. So, I let myself in.” Len walked forward and tugged at Barry’s waist as he began tucking in the younger man’s shirt. Despite himself, Barry’s dick stirred in his trousers as Len manhandled him. “There,” he nodded and stepped back, his eyes once again roaming Barry’s body. “I can’t wait until this night’s over so that I can tear this suit off you,” Len drawled and that did nothing to help the situation in Barry’s pants.

“Then I guess we better get going,” Barry replied, deliberately not admiring the way Len’s suit clung to his body. He wanted to actually make it out of the bedroom tonight, after all. Barry messed with his hair a little more, he wasn’t used to wearing so much product in it but Len had insisted that the bed head look wouldn’t work tonight.

When they left, Barry was eternally thankful that Len had stolen a car to drive tonight instead of his customary motorbike. Barry didn’t think he could deal with being pressed up against Len’s back right now. The ride to the exhibit was a short one, but they used their time wisely to go over the plan: they would patrol the room for the first half an hour and make sure that none of the information they’d gained from their stake-outs the past two weeks had changed. After that, they would separate. Len would cause a small distraction while Barry stole some of the jewels.

They weren’t after all the diamonds tonight, though. And, usually, Barry would go for the most expensive diamond of the lot, but Len had cautioned him against it this time. There was bound to be more security measures around a $50 million gem than around the surrounding diamonds, all of which would be easier to sell on, worth in the vicinity of $1 million each.

As they entered the building, Barry was surprised by his surroundings. Of course, he had known that they were going to be decorating the main hall for this party, but he hadn’t actually expected it to look so… _good_. Everything in sight was white or silver or gold, and sparkling brightly under the low-lit spotlights scattered throughout the room. Most of the time, when people went all out like this for a party, it just looked tacky. But not here. Barry couldn't let himself be distracted for long though: he had a job to do.

The two of them patrolled the room carefully and quickly, they only had a limited window of opportunity after all. But, eventually, one of Barry’s favourite songs began playing from the hidden speakers dotted around the room.

“I love this song,” Barry commented. Len looked at him and then towards the centre of the room where couples were swaying along with each other to the music.

“I wish I could dance with you,” Len eventually admitted, surprising Barry.

“You know, you act all tough but you’re just a big romantic deep down,” Barry teased and Len shrugged, which only made Barry laugh loudly. Once he quietened down, Barry looked out at the rest of the room and back to Len. “… Would it be so bad if we _did_ dance?” He asked softly and Len sighed, tilting his head to indicate a couple talking near the entrance.

“That is Rachel and Osgood Rathaway, two of the richest homophobes in Central City. They funded this event. They publicly disowned their son for being gay last year, so I don’t think they would have any qualms in throwing us out for dancing together.”

Suddenly, Barry didn’t feel like dancing anymore. His mood soured once more by the two people across the room. After a moment, Barry spoke up again.

“Let’s just get the diamonds and get out of here,” Barry muttered under his breath, and Len nodded his head.

"Just like we practised, Kid," Len drawled and Barry rolled his eyes.

“If I pull this off, then will you stop calling me ‘ _Kid_ ’?” Barry asked. Len paused for a moment.

“I’ll consider it,” he deadpanned before walking away.

Barry moved too and took his position near the diamond cases. He meandered around them as he waited, close but not _too_ close that he would draw unwanted attention. He discreetly kept his eyes on Len the entire time. He watched as his boyfriend took a glass of red wine from a server, sipping it as he walked around the room until he found his target: a spoiled rich girl for him to charm.

Len knocked into the girl and ‘ _accidentally_ ' spilt wine down her dress. Barry couldn't hear what Len was saying, but he'd given him a general idea of how this distraction worked: he spilt the drink, then apologised and offered to pay for the dry-cleaning. Now, he was probably complimenting her and saying that she was just so beautiful that she'd distracted him. Barry watched the girl blush, bow her head to the floor, and tuck a stray hair behind her ear… it was working. Barry didn't know whether to feel happy or annoyed by that so he settled on both.

Then Len offered her his arm and began to lead her towards the staircase to attempt to clean off the stain in the upstairs toilets. Barry tightened his fist in jealousy as he watched the girl laugh and cling to _his_ boyfriend. But this was all part of the plan… The upstairs was off-limits during this party and so any moment now Len would be stopped by the security. _Any_. _Moment_. _Now_.

There.

One of the security officers was standing in the way and blocking Len’s path. Barry took a step closer to the diamond cases and tried to appear like he was simply viewing the diamonds while he was actually watching Len out of the corner of his eye. Len was looking increasingly angry at the security guard and now other members of the security team were making their way over there. He was drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

Barry knew he had only a few seconds now to do _his_ part of the plan. He took a deep breath and phased his hand through the jewellery case. Barry was still pretty new to this particular perk of his superspeed, having only discovered it a few weeks ago when he and Len were playing with some _toys_ in the bedroom, and Barry vibrated so hard that he ended up accidentally phasing through the bed. He had fallen down into the apartment beneath him, thankfully no one had been home at the time or else that would have led to a very difficult conversation. He’d been so alarmed that he didn’t even think to take the vibrator out of himself before running at superspeed back to his apartment, leading to some serious chaffing for the next twenty or so minutes. Needless to say, they’d been a little more careful in the bedroom since then.

Barry quickly plucked the diamonds from the case and replaced them with the glass replicas that he and Len had snuck into this event. Barry slipped the diamonds into his pockets and stepped away from the cases just in time to see Len getting escorted out by the security. The woman had already retreated back into the crowd, plucking sadly at her ruined dress.

Barry hung around for a few more minutes before leaving too. When he was finally outside, Barry suddenly felt as light as a feather… despite the diamonds weighing down his pockets. The adrenaline coursing through his veins began to settle, his stiffness left him completely, and a laugh bubbled out past his lips.

He’d done it! He’d _really_ just pulled off a heist in a room of 200 or more people without getting caught! Barry quickly walked to their designated meeting place, and when he saw Len he pulled him forward by the tie and dragged him closer into a filthy, dizzying, kiss. They were both groping each other and panting for breath after only a few more minutes.

“I want you to fuck me so hard that I’m seeing stars for a week,” Barry whispered against Len’s skin, his dick was already hard and his skin was buzzing with _want_.

“That can be arranged,” Len drawled and Barry held him close as he ran them back to his apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you follow me on Instagram then you may have already seen [this poll](https://goo.gl/vX42wu). But if not, then please click on the link and vote for which of the fanfics you want me to write for Coldflash week (April 9th-16th). There are five ideas but I’ll only be writing 2 or 3 of them. I will be taking the results on the 21st at 8pm UK time (the poll itself may run later than that, however.)
> 
> Next update won't be until April 18th because I have exams and assessments from now until May.
> 
> Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts :)


	7. Snippet 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got the feeling from the comments lately that you’re all eager for the plot to start developing, so this chapter should be a welcome change :) the pace won’t really turn up until chapter 9, though.

Barry was jolted awake by an object falling into his lap. He jumped and stood up, going into a defensive stance automatically before he registered who the other person in the room was. Len cocked an eyebrow in Barry direction, making him blush as he sunk back down onto the sofa he’d been napping on. “What's this?” He muttered as he picked up the small thick book that Len had chucked onto his lap, after apparently breaking into Barry’s apartment… _again_.

“A journal,” Len replied swiftly, still standing. “It's a coping technique.”

“A coping technique… for _what_?" Barry asked, feeling the tension build in his shoulders. "I'm doing _fine_ ,” Barry insisted before Len could answer. Len took a seat on the armchair next to Barry’s sofa. “And what am I supposed to write in a journal, anyway? ' _Me and Len stole a million dollar painting today. LOL_ '? I don’t really think that incriminating myself is very wise, do you?”

“I was thinking more along the lines of ' _my gorgeous boyfriend blew my mind in bed today_ '...” Len teased and then rolled his eyes. “Write about your Dad. Your Mum, Iris, West, whatever comes to mind. Hell, write poetry if that's what gets you through this.”

“And why exactly do you think I need help?” Barry bit out. Len shook his head and leaned forward slightly, undeterred by Barry’s anger and seeming calm.

"Because, Barry, and I do say this in the kindest of ways… you're self-destructing. You quit your job, stopped talking to your foster father, and your best friend, and pretty much everyone who isn't a thief actually. And then there're those mood swings: going from care-free to irritable and angry from one day to the next. It's like the only thing that can make you feel good again is a heist."

“So, what? You want me to stop being a criminal?” Barry scoffed and Len smirked.

"I didn't say _that_ ,” Len drawled. He allowed the smile to slip from his lips momentarily. “I just want to make sure you’re doing this because you want to and not because you’re addicted to it… You’re starting to concern me, Kid,” Len admitted. Barry bristled, ready for an argument, then he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Len was right, Barry _knew_ that Len was right, and he didn’t want to push him away. He’d noticed the change in himself, too. It was just hard to admit. “I’ve seen this before… I’ve _been_ this way before,” Len continued quietly, seeming to realise he was getting through to Barry.

“... Did you used to have one of these?” Barry guessed, looking down at the empty journal in his hands and feeling the fight escape him to be replaced with a kind of numb emptiness. Len shrugged.

“Once upon a time.”

“Did _you_ write poetry?” Barry joked, trying to shift the lump forming in the back of his throat.

“I guess you'll never know,” Len deadpanned and Barry pouted. “Just... try it.”

[] [] []

When Len woke up, his bed felt cold. He’d been in a relationship with Barry now for almost two months and he was in this odd middle ground at the moment: whenever he slept alone he felt cold, missing the feeling of Barry’s limbs wrapped around his own. But when he slept over at his boyfriend’s apartment, which was happening more and more frequently lately, he would always have a restless sleep because he just wasn’t _quite_ used to sleeping in the same bed with anyone else yet: waking up any time that Barry shifted positions or breathed a little too loudly.

It was worth it, though: he liked being with Barry, and the sex was _incredible_.

Len quietly rolled out of bed and went to the kitchen. He put on a pot of coffee and rubbed at his sore eyes as he waited. He never used to drink coffee before he’d met Barry, but he supposed the kid’s obsession was rubbing off on him. He needed it now to help keep himself alert after a bad night’s sleep. But he didn’t drink it whenever he slept well, despite how much he craved the stuff.

He poured himself a large mug of coffee and sipped it as he sat on the couch. When he turned on the news channel, he wondered if they would still be covering the robbery of the security van, which had been carrying money away from CC Bank, that he and Barry had pulled a few nights ago. It was the first moving target that Barry had ever hit and there had been a few hiccups along the way (like how Barry had messed up his phasing and accidentally ran _into_ the truck instead of _through_ it), but everything turned out fine and they still came away with the money in the end.

And then when they got back to Barry’s apartment afterwards…

 _Christ_.

Len had never known that fucking your business partner could be so _rewarding_. He wasn’t sure if it was the adrenaline or what, but their post-heist sex was even more amazing than their everyday sex. And the kid _vibrated_ , so the bar wasn’t exactly set low.

Len’s mind was in the gutter, thinking about their last spectacular rendezvous, and so he wasn’t really listening to the news story. Not until he registered the words ‘ _man in the lightning_ ’. He sat up suddenly and grabbed the remote, rewinding until the beginning of the news story.

“ _In other news, the bizarre streak of robberies continue_ ,” the anchorman said perkily on screen. “ _Last night the Central City Art Gallery was robbed, losing thousands of dollars' worth of paintings. The security was found this morning, tied up in the lobby with no recollection of how they'd got there. Just like the other robberies, all the men could recall about the incident was a flash of lightning followed by a dizzy spell. Unlike the previous robberies, this time the criminal left a witness._

“ _The man, who had been out for a late night walk, later told us what he saw. He described the incident as something out of a comic book: the building was lit up with lightning and, when he'd moved closer to investigate, it spilt out onto the street. On closer look, he saw that there was a man in the lightning_.”

“Dammit, Barry.”

“ _He happened to catch a picture of the man in question._ ” Len was sitting on the edge of his seat as the picture came onto the screen. It revealed Barry, dressed completely in black, standing in front of the building and holding two paintings. Barry was facing away from the camera, with only part of the side of his face visible, and there was lightning at his feet. But it was blurry, and the lightning could easily be confused as a camera flare instead. The quality of the picture got even lower as the news station zoomed in on the back of Barry’s head, asking the viewers to turn in any possible suspects to the cops. Len shook his head in relief, the picture was so poor that Len was sure no one would be able to identify his boyfriend from it. Hell, if Len hadn’t already known it was Barry, then he might not have been able to identify him either.

Len watched the remainder of the news story but they didn’t have anything else. He stood up, turned the TV off, and left to go find his boyfriend. When Barry opened the door, he was surprised to find that Len was the one waiting there.

“You _knocked_?” Barry blurted out.

“Want to explain the heist?” Len asked instead of answering after Barry let him in.

“What heist?” Barry played dumb. It was quite convincing, too, Len had taught him well.

He would be proud… except, Barry had agreed to cut down on their heists. He’d seen the change in himself over the months too: not just the change from CSI to thief, but the way his mood shifted drastically from one week to the next. It wasn’t good and they both knew it. Len gave him the journal, they were trying new hobbies, pushing the distance between heists as much as they could. Except Barry had already given in, apparently.

“Cut it out, Kid. You’re on the news,” Len drawled

“ _I’m_ on the news? Do they know who I am?”

“The speedster thief is on the news,” Len corrected himself and sighed. “Just turn it on.” Barry flashed over to the sofa. He turned to a different news channel than the one Len had watched, but they were reporting the exact same story with the exact statement and picture. This channel, however, had given Barry a name: the Flash.

“Oh no. Oh no, no, no. This is not good,” Barry muttered as he paced the room and stared at the TV.

Len’s eyes followed him the entire time: he’d been expecting Barry to be a little worried by it, sure, but not _this_ worried. He looked once more at the blurry picture on the screen and shook his head – there was something going on here that Barry wasn’t telling him about. Ex-job with the police or not, there was no reason to get so worked up over one blurry photo that only showed the back of Barry’s head, and could have been easily edited, and a statement from a man who was obviously a stoner. He pointed this out to Barry and the younger man froze, looking far too guilty.

“What?” Len asked flatly, and Barry bit his lip for a moment before finally blurting out the truth.

“You’re not the only one who knows about my speed!” He confessed and then collapsed into a chair with his head in his hands. Len processed that for a moment.

“Detective West?” He asked and Barry shook his head. Len let out a small breath in relief but he didn’t let himself relax completely. West was his biggest concern at this moment but Barry was obviously troubled about this. Len wondered whether whoever it was that knew about Barry’s powers worked in law enforcement too. “Then who?” He asked carefully, joining Barry on the sofa.

“The people who looked after me while I was in the coma,” Barry muttered sullenly and Len nodded. Scientists, not detectives… that was good. “They were there when I discovered my powers. They helped me through it. At least… they did in the very beginning. Then I found out that they’d been lying to me…" Barry finally lifted his head from his hands and his eyes were hardened as he spoke his next words. "They strategically ‘ _forgot’_ to mention that there were more metahumans out there, and we got into an argument about it…” His gaze dropped back down to his hands and he rung his fingers. “That’s when I got the call about my dad.” After a moment Barry shook his head and his eyes landed on Len again, actually seeing him instead of seeing through him. “Once they see this picture and hear what this guy has to say, they’ll know that I’m the thief. That I’m the Flash!”

“Do they have any proof that you can run at the speed of light? That anything this man said was possible?” Len asked, after a moment of consideration, and Barry frowned.

“I don’t… I don’t know. Maybe? I wasn’t with them for very long but I don’t think they have any footage of me. It was all just notes…”

“And notes can be easily forged,” Len nodded. Good; this was good. “They won’t come forward and turn you in,” Len concluded confidently.

“How do you know that?”

“Because if they did, without any evidence, they would only be making fools out of themselves. Public humiliation and insane claims don’t make for a very successful career in science: nothing they did would ever be taken seriously again.”

“I… guess.”

“You’re fine, Barry,” Len insisted and Barry nodded weakly.

“And… if I’m wrong and they _do_ have evidence?” He eventually asked.

“Then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that these last 2 chapters have been so small. They were originally one chapter instead of 2, but I decided to split them up because it would probably suck if the first ever heist they planned together ended up being that first domino that made everything else fall down… next update will be about the 10th May. I'm speeding up my posting schedule again now that most of my assessments are over :D


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enter Lisa.

“Did you see the news?” Cisco called as he entered the room. Eobard looked up from his computer at the young engineer: the man looked somewhere between excited and angry. He didn’t wait for Eobard or Caitlin to reply before he leant over and began typing on the keypad. He brought up the news channel website quickly and played a video from the logged stories at the side. He quickly transferred the video to the widescreen and all three of them watched the news report.

Thawne saw the words ‘ _the Flash_ ’ printed across the screen and tensed, not liking where this was going. That name was _not_ supposed to be linked to a criminal. This was wrong. It was all _wrong_! Eobard managed to bite his tongue, though.

“Is that…?” Caitlin began as the picture showed up on the screen.

“It’s Barry Allen,” Cisco insisted. “I’m _sure_ of it!”

“But… he works with the _police_ …” Caitlin murmured and shook her head. She paused the video and stood closer to the screen so she could get a better look at the picture, though it was too blurry for any discernible information to be gained from it.

“Not anymore,” Cisco countered. “I checked. He quit a few weeks ago.” Cisco looked to Thawne, who had yet to say anything. “We should stop him,” he announced and Caitlin slowly nodded. Thawne wheeled himself closer to the widescreen and Caitlin moved out of the way for him. He stared at the screen for a little while as he thought: if he agreed with them, then they would at least stop Barry from stealing anything else and getting caught, maybe have a chance at rehabilitating him while they kept him trapped in the pipeline cells… But if they messed up and didn’t manage to capture Barry then they would only push him further away.

It was risky. But Thawne needed Barry to get back on track and stop fucking with the timeline. Who knew what kind of future Eobard had to go back to if Barry Allen didn’t become a hero…

“I’ll think about it,” he allowed. All of his plans lately had failed spectacularly… he needed to change tactics but it had to be thoroughly thought out. Thawne wheeled himself away from the screen and left the cortex without another word.

“ _The_ _Flash_ ,” he heard Cisco scoff behind him. “They should leave the naming to the experts.”

[] [] []

Len was sitting in his safe house reading a book while Barry lay on the sofa, his head pillowed in Len’s lap, as Len instinctively ran his fingers through the younger man’s hair. It had been only a few days since the news had caught wind of Barry, of _the Flash_ , and only a little over two months since the first time they’d had sex, only four and a half months since they'd first met… but Len was all too aware that he was falling for Barry Allen faster than he had any right to.

There was something about him that Len had never seen in anyone else before: a brightness. Even when Barry was feeling low and empty, he still shone brighter than anyone Len had met before. Len looked down at the younger man on his lap and smiled. He’d never before thought of himself as someone who fell fast into a relationship… but this was different.

Len heard the distinct sound of an engine being turned off outside of the warehouse and he swiftly reached for his cold gun. He charged it and waited, staring at the door ahead. When the door opened, however, Len felt the tension that had arisen deflate from his shoulders.

“Is this the reason you’ve not left Central yet?” Lisa drawled quietly, looking at Barry pointedly as she stood in the entrance to the room. Len sighed and dropped his, now powered down, cold gun back onto the nearby end table. He thought about denying her statement but it would be a lie. Len didn’t like Central City: it was a town filled with bad childhood memories for both himself and Lisa. He drove into town for heists once or twice a year and then left as soon as possible.

But then Barry had changed the game. Metahumans. They made the job far more interesting and Len knew that everywhere else in the world was still playing checkers while he had now moved onto playing chess. He didn’t want to go back to the old game… and so he’d stuck around. Len’s silence was as good as a confirmation to Lisa, who strutted further into the room. She studied the sleeping Barry for a moment before shrugging and taking a seat in a nearby chair.

“He’s cute.”

“What are you doing here, Lise?” Len questioned.

“Can’t a girl visit her big bro unannounced?”

“She can… but she doesn’t.” Lisa shrugged her acknowledged and remained silent for a moment longer as she gathered her thoughts, Len waiting patiently.

“I got concerned when I heard you were staying here,” she admitted and Len knew that she was talking about ‘ _here_ ’ as in the city and not ‘ _here_ ’ as in the safe house… they had stayed in _much_ shabbier places than this before. “What are you up to, Lenny?”

“Honestly, I don’t have a plan right now; not anymore. Things are different and I haven’t quite figured everything out yet. So I’m just… here.”

"Don't lie," she scoffed but when Len just shrugged her smirk turned to a frown. "You're being serious," she realised and then blinked down at where Barry was still asleep in his lap. "This boy's dick is that life-changing, huh?" She joked and Len couldn't help but laugh, which made Barry stir.

“Len?” Barry muttered, scrubbing softly at his closed eyes and yawning.

“Aww, he’s like a little sleepy puppy,” Lisa cooed and her voice startled Barry so much that, within a second, he was out of Len’s lap and across the room in a blur of lightning. Lisa was silent, her eyes wide and her mouth agape, as she started at Barry.

“Like I said… things are different,” Len drawled and Lisa swallowed thickly, composing her face. “Lisa this is Barry. Barry, my sister Lisa,” Len quickly introduced them and Barry blushed.

“Sister. Right! It’s good to meet you,” Barry muttered as he took slow steps back towards the couch, almost as though he was approaching a frightened animal. “I didn’t know you were in town.”

“Neither did Lenny,” she muttered, managing to compose her voice and shut off her surprised expression. “So, _Barry_. You’re… erm… _what_ are you?” Lisa asked.

"A metahuman," Barry answered quickly and gave a brief overview of what that meant and how he'd gotten his powers as he slowly sat back down on the couch beside Len. Lisa nodded along. For the most part, she looked completely composed and confident… but Len knew her too well to fall for that mask and he could see the signs that she was inwardly freaking out.

"Metahumans. Wow. Of all the answers I was expecting to get when I came down here today… I can tell you now that super-powered thieves were _not_ one of them,” she laughed and appeared to be processing the information a little better now. “So, _this_ is the reason you're staying put?" Lisa asked her brother and Len shrugged, very aware of how Barry's gaze was now focused completely on him.

“Staying put? You were going to leave Central City?” Barry asked, sounding… disappointed, maybe?

“This place doesn’t exactly hold the best memories for me,” Len admitted. “So, yes, in the past I’ve always left as soon as the job was over.” This seemed to give Barry something to think over as his gaze became a little distant.

“Huh,” he muttered and then remained quiet as Len and Lisa caught up.

“How long are you in town for?” He asked her and she shrugged.

“I was just passing through. I was hoping you’d join me, actually, but now I see that you’re… busy,” she continued with another glance to Barry, who blushed deeply. “Does he always do that?” She muttered to Len, sounding delighted, and if anything that made Barry blush even _deeper_. Len laughed.

“Pretty much.” Barry glared at him… or tried to, anyway. Len always thought that Barry’s glares looked more like pouts.

“Anyway, I’m hungry. Do you have anything in?” She asked and Barry perked up.

“Do you like pizza?” He asked quickly. “What am I asking? Everyone likes pizza! I can run to Coast City Pizzeria and pick us something up,” he offered and Lisa frowned.

“Coast City…?” She asked, sounding bewildered. They were 1,680 miles away from Coast City, after all. Len knew because he’d googled it the first time that Barry had made that run.

“Yeah!” He said, sounding far too excited and reminding Len that Barry hadn’t really gone for a long run in the past few days… he was probably getting a bit restless. He only really used his powers when they were on a heist. Len wondered if that had something to do with his increasing irritability after jobs. Maybe a good run out of the city a few times a week would do him some good? Len stored that thought away for future consideration.

“Erm… okay,” Lisa muttered and Barry was gone in a flash. He really did live up to that name. Lisa blinked for a moment before turning to Len. “He’s really going to run to Coast City?” She asked and Len shrugged.

“Yeah, he’ll be back in forty minutes or so,” he replied. “Do you want a drink?” He asked, getting up from the sofa and Lisa nodded.

“ _Please_ ,” she muttered, looking like he’d just offered her the Holy Grail. Len moved around the back of the sofa and towards the mini fridges he had set up at the back of the room. “What’s this gun?” She called over while his back was turned. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Oh, it’s very _cool_ ,” he drawled back to her, a smirk on his face. He grabbed a can of Coke from the fridge for Lisa, and then his fingers hovered over the beers. He heard the sound of the cold gun being powered up and spared a glance Lisa’s way before grabbing a second Coke for himself. When he righted himself on his feet, Lisa was aiming the gun at a nearby chair and feeling the weight in the hands for a moment before she pressed the trigger. The blast brightened the room as the chair turned to ice in front of them. Lisa’s eyes lit up with delight.

“I _have_ to get one of these,” she exclaimed giddily and Len huffed a laugh as he approached.

“Sorry, Lise. It’s one of a kind,” he drawled.

“Why do you get all the fun toys?” She pouted as she powered the gun down and Len offered her a can. “This isn’t beer,” she muttered and Len smirked.

“You’re driving,” he pointed out. “Safety first, Little Sister,” he drawled and she rolled her eyes as she took the offered drink. Len sat back down but paused before opening his can. “I do have something for Mick, though…” he said slowly, remembering the heat gun that he’d taken when he picked up the cold gun. He’d planned on giving it to Mick once he left Central, but now he no longer knew how long he’d be here for… “Maybe you could take it to him for me?”

“You got Mick a gun but not your own sister?” Lisa asked dramatically, no heat in her gaze. “Shame on you, Leonard Snart.” She took a swig of her drink and then nodded. “Sure. I was planning on dropping in on him, anyway.” They talked for a little longer until Barry showed back up, arms filled with boxes of pizza.

"Jeez, is there a small family in the back that I missed, or something?" Lisa joked when she noticed a number of boxes in Barry's arms.

“I, uh… I eat a lot,” Barry shrugged, again with that beautiful blush on his cheeks. “Also, I wasn’t sure what you’d want. So, I got a variety.” He dropped the boxes on the table and started naming them. Len grabbed a three cheese and Lisa reached for a couple of slices of meat feast. Barry grabbed a slice from each of the five boxes before finishing off the ham and pineapple… the weirdo.

“So, how did you two meet?” She asked eventually after watching Barry inhale his pizza.

“He stole my diamond,” Len muttered and Barry threw a sealed dipping sauce packet his way.

“It was not _your_ diamond,” Barry rebuffed and Len rolled his eyes.

“You’re lucky I didn’t steal it back,” Len replied smoothly.

“How, exactly, were you planning to do that? You move so slow that you might as well be standing still,” Barry laughed.

“You left it in your towel cupboard, Kid. It wouldn’t exactly have been difficult to take,” Len remarked and Barry blushed, Lisa letting out a deep laugh at the two of them.

She stayed for a little longer, asking questions about them, and Barry, and metas in general. But it was soon getting dark out and so Lisa decided to take her leave. Len grabbed the heat gun for her to take to Mick as Barry tried to find a way to fit the left-over pizza into the mini fridge. “You guys are cute,” she declared quietly, quiet enough that Barry wouldn’t be able to hear from the other end of the room, with a nod. “I approve.”

“Thanks, Sis,” Len muttered with a roll of his eyes.

“Don’t mess this one up, Lenny,” she warned and then kissed him on the cheek. She turned to Barry and gave a little wave as she left.

“Your sister is… something,” Barry muttered and Len laughed. They joined each other on the sofa again and Len was surprised when his boyfriend didn’t curl back into him. The guy normally loved to cuddle, and Len was more partial to it than he pretended to be, but he instead stayed put. “When are you leaving Central?” Barry eventually asked, his voice quiet, and Len frowned.

“I’m not sure yet, Barry,” he admitted. There was a lot to consider: he hated the town but he loved the new challenge that the metahumans brought. And then there was also the fact that he liked Barry and didn’t want to leave him behind. “Why the sudden interest?” He asked, instead of facing his own emotions, and Barry shrugged as casually as he could manage.

“I was just thinking… what if I came with you?” Barry mumbled, taking Len by surprise. “It’s just, I’ve been through a lot here too and I never really considered leaving before because this is where my family and job is. Except… now my dad’s dead. And I’m not talking to Joe anymore. Iris will understand why I’m leaving. And I quit my job now anyway so… I have nothing holding me here anymore and a lot of reasons to leave,” Barry rambled and sighed as though he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. “A fresh start would be nice.”

“How about tomorrow?” Len asked impulsively and Barry looked over at him with those big puppy dog eyes.

“What?”

“How about… you pack up tonight. And we catch the first train out of here tomorrow morning?” Len reiterated and stepped closer to Barry. This speedster was the only metahuman Len cared about, anyway, so if Barry was with him then it would still be just as fun, along with the added benefit of being far away from Central City.

“I… just like that?” Barry asked and Len nodded.

“Just like that. We could go pretty much anywhere you wanted to… it’s not like we don’t have the money.”

“I… I better pack then,” Barry laughed and Len’s lips twitched into a smile. Barry flashed forward and pressed a quick kiss to his mouth before running away back to his own apartment. _Cute_ , Len thought. He threw himself back onto his sofa and looked around the safe house he was crashing in. Everything here was expendable. He had a few clothes that he might shove into a suitcase… but other than that, Len was already good to go.

They texted a little throughout the night and Barry promised that he would be ready to leave tomorrow at 10 am so Len relaxed and actually managed to get an early sleep and a lie in for once. He quickly showered and dressed in the morning. Then he folded his clothes and placed them into his suitcase before chucking the thing onto the backseat of his car. Len was surprised by how excited he was feeling at the thought of leaving with Barry. He wondered where the younger man would want to go. Len had connections that could easily get them a visa to anywhere in the world, and so once they were out of Central there wasn't really anywhere that was off limits.

Len calmly drove over to Barry, feeling more than just excitement stirring and wondering if Barry might be up for one last tryst in his apartment. There weren’t any car spaces free directly out front of the building and so Len had to park a little further down the road and walk up. He didn’t mind, though, and the fresh air felt good against his skin.

Len climbed the stairs to Barry's floor and was about to let himself inside when he heard talking beyond the door. Was that a woman's voice? It was a low mumble, not loud enough for Len to distinguish any words from the conversation. Maybe Barry had reconciled with his foster sister? Len wondered whether he should wait in the car and come back in a few minutes, but decided to knock instead.

“Hey,” Len greeted as Barry opened the door. He only realised that he was smiling once he took in Barry’s stance, looking completely broken with red-rimmed eyes and a posture that sang sadness. The smile dropped instantly from Len’s lips. “What’s wrong?” He asked as he became suddenly tense.

“I…” Barry started and shook his head dejectedly. “I’m not coming with you.”


	9. Chapter 9

[ _20 minutes earlier_ ]

Barry stared at his overflowing suitcase: this wasn’t going to work. What had he been thinking? All of his junk was _not_ going to fit into just one case and one carry-on… but he was just too sentimental to _throw it out_! Unless… maybe he could give his landlord a couple of extra months' rent and store everything here for the time being? God knows that he had enough money. He could always come back in a couple of months and move everything into a long-term storage facility…

Barry nodded to himself: that would just have to do.

He quickly began rummaging through his suitcase and pulling out items that he could probably live without for a little longer. The black high school graduation sweatshirt, that was over-worn to the point that that printed class names on the back were peeling away and had been splattered in paint ever since he helped Iris redecorate a few years ago? It held some good memories but took up too much room: that could stay here. The trophy he'd won at his sixth-grade science fair, the event that had truly made him realise his love for science? It would probably just get broken in transit anyway. His mother's favourite book, still bookmarked with a faded shopping receipt which had likely been the nearest scrap of paper she'd had to hand the last time she'd put it down? _That_ he could make room for.

Barry sped through his decisions quickly and soon his suitcase was no-longer bursting at the seams and light enough to be put onto the plane without additional charges... if it needed to be, that was. Barry still didn’t know where they were going to go.

It was only a couple of minutes later when there was a knock on his apartment door and Barry checked the time on his phone. Was Len half an hour early? He must be as excited as Barry was.

Barry sped to the door and didn’t bother checking who was there before opening it, which he regretted instantly. Barry sighed and momentarily considered slamming the door on Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow’s faces, but ultimately decided against it.

“Cisco. Caitlin,” he acknowledged stiffly, keeping the door close to his body in the doorway and making it clear that they weren’t invited inside.

“Barry,” Cisco nodded, not exactly looking happy.

“What are you doing here?” Barry eventually gave in and asked. He hadn’t seen either of them since the argument at STAR Labs: the day he’d found out his father had died…

“We need your help,” Caitlin admitted and Barry sighed loudly, replying in monotone.

“As I keep telling Wells, I’m not interested. That isn’t what I do anymore.”

“No, now you rob people…”

“ _Cisco_.” Caitlin reprimanded quietly and Barry stiffened in response to the other man’s mumbled words. He’d been expecting this.

“What? We know it’s you, Barry. We know you’re the Flash. We’re not idiots,” Cisco said a little louder, more boldly.

“You can’t prove anything,” Barry muttered, feigning confidence.

"Actually, we can," Cisco rubbed in Barry's face and Barry felt his stomach drop. "The only reason that we haven't turned anything in, is because Doctor Wells keeps insisting that we give you another chance and that you'll come back."

“So, that’s why you’re here?” Barry scoffed and took a step back. “To give me another chance? Because I’m not interested.”

“We’ll give you everything we have linking you to the Flash!” Caitlin insisted before Barry could slam the door on them. Barry paused for a moment and looked at the scientists at his door: he realised now that they looked tired and on the edge of their wires.

“ _Caitlin_!” Cisco exclaimed, obviously not liking her tactic.

“What?” She muttered quietly to him. “We need Barry’s help.” Cisco looked annoyed at that but nodded, apparently accepting that Barry was their only hope. And that desperate look in their eyes, it convinced Barry to open his apartment door further and let them both inside. “You’re going somewhere?” Caitlin asked as she saw the suitcase leaning against Barry’s wall.

“I am,” Barry nodded. He thought of Len and their plans to go far, far, away and smiled. He realised that he didn’t _need_ them to give him the evidence. He was going away today and, if he managed to deal with his sentiment while he was away, he was never coming back to Central City. But Barry decided to hear them out anyway. “I’m not promising to help, but I’ll listen,” Barry prompted and Caitlin nodded.

“It’s Doctor Wells…” she started and then paused, looking like she didn’t know how to word this. She looked to Cisco and so he continued for her.

“He’s been lying to us,” Cisco muttered and Barry rolled his eyes.

“Wells? Lying? Now that’s a shock,” Barry muttered sarcastically.

“No… this is different,” Caitlin continued. “He can walk.” Barry blinked at her in surprise and turned to Cisco as the other man shook his head.

“He can do more than that,” Cisco muttered. “He can _run_. And I’m not talking the normal kind of running. I’m talking _your_ kind of running. He’s a speedster.” Barry took that in for a moment and nodded, trying to remember what Len had taught him about keeping a poker face.

“And… there’s more,” Caitlin said after a pause. Her and Cisco shared a look before she continued. “He knew that the particle accelerator was going to explode. We’ve known for a couple of weeks now, but we didn’t know what to _think_. But then last night… he was angry. _Very_ angry. He wasn’t making sense… and then when Cisco tried to calm him down, he got out of his chair and…”

Caitlin looked at Cisco again and Cisco looked angry for a moment before slowly pulling down the collar of his turtleneck jumper, revealing pink and purple bruising around his neck. Barry stood up straighter and took a step forward. Wells had tried to _strangle_ Cisco?

“I stopped him,” Caitlin continued. “I hit him over the head with a fire extinguisher and he turned on me for a moment before running away. But we think he’s going to hurt someone… and you are the _only_ person we know who can help stop him.” Barry digested that for a moment: Wells tried to kill Cisco. He’d killed hundreds of people already with the particle accelerator explosion. And he was a speedster… just like Barry… just like the man who killed Nora Allen.

Could _Wells_ have killed Barry’s mother?

This was too much to process at once. Barry needed a drink. God, this was a very bad time to be resistant to alcohol. Cisco and Caitlin were both silent for a moment, watching Barry before there was another knock on the door. Barry took a deep breath, feeling like he hadn't breathed for the past fifteen minutes and looked at the clock. That would be Len… coming by to take him away to somewhere else where he could actually be _happy_. Barry’s mind was a mess right now. He _wanted_ to leave with Len right now and forget that any of this morning had ever happened.

But how could he just leave Central now that he knew the man who’d killed his mother might be the very same man who’d been practically stalking him for the past few months?

Barry stood up (and when exactly had he even sat down? He was sure that he’d been standing up when Cisco and Caitlin were talking…) and walked to the door. He took another deep breath before opening it and looking out at Len’s smiling face.

“Hey,” Len greeted before noting whatever look was currently painted across Barry’s features. Barry wasn’t even sure what his own emotions were right now; he just felt… _numb_. “What’s wrong?”

“I… I’m not coming with you.”

There was a breath of silence as Len looked into Barry’s eyes, searching for something. Then he cast his eyes over Barry’s shoulder to where Caitlin and Cisco were standing.

“ _You_!” Cisco shouted and Len instantly slipped into his Captain Cold persona, smirk and all. “You stole my gun!” Barry looked back to Cisco because that was news to him. He’d known that Len had lifted the gun from somewhere, but he didn’t know it had been from STAR Labs. Cisco turned to Caitlin, his voice lower but still angry. “I knew this was a mistake. He’s working with Captain Cold!”

“ _Sleeping_ with, actually," Len corrected as he stepped into the apartment, closing the door behind him. Barry saw him subtly evaluating the room before dismissing the two STAR Labs employees entirely. "Barry, what's going on?" He asked quietly, leaning in close. Barry cleared his throat, feeling his eyes burn before he could speak again.

“It’s Harrison Wells…” Barry muttered, an emotion finally brimming to the surface: anger. “He was the man in the lightning.” Len looked confused for all of a second before he stood up straight, remembering the conversation they’d had in this very room months ago when Barry had told Len about his father’s false imprisonment.

“He killed your mother?” Len clarified and Barry just nodded.

“Wait, what?” Cisco interrupted. Len spared him a withering glance before wrapping his hand around Barry’s arm and pulling him to the side of the room so they could talk better. “Hold up, I want to hear this too!” Cisco insisted.

“Boyfriends get first privilege,” Len called over his shoulder. “Are you sure it’s him?” Len asked quietly and Barry shook his head.

“No,” he admitted. He brought Len up to speed on what Cisco and Caitlin had told him. He knew that he didn’t exactly have much to go on, but this whole thing couldn’t just be a _coincidence_! Barry already knew that whoever killed his mum _had_ to be a speedster, but he never knew how that was possible before the particle accelerator explosion...

But who knew how long Wells had been working with the idea of dark matter. What if he'd been working with it fifteen years ago? What if there had been a lab accident that caused him to gain superspeed? But why would he then choose to kill Barry's mum?

Everything was fitting together, but it didn’t make sense. It was like he was doing a puzzle without the picture and with pieces missing. He needed to figure out what he was missing and get revenge for his mother and father.

“You can still leave,” Barry said. “I’ll just… I’ll catch up to you once I’m done here.”

“I’m not leaving, Barry,” Len replied as though it should have been obvious. “We’re partners. Besides, if you’re going up against another speedster then you might need my gun,” he said and Barry nodded his silent thank you.

[] [] []

Eobard Thawne watched the entire interaction through his cameras in Barry’s apartment: this hadn’t been ideal but it could still work to his favour. His original plan had been to guide Barry as his mentor and plant ideas in his mind about how he needed to learn to go faster and be a better speedster! Now that would never happen. But the realisation that Wells had been the one who killed Nora Allen already stopped Barry from making the massive mistake of leaving Central City… maybe it could also be the push he needed to become faster and get his future back on track.

To think, Thawne was actually _encouraging_ the Flash to become a superhero! Back in his time, he would have _killed_ to have the Flash as nothing more than a crook… but not anymore. The Flash was too important to the timeline. And if the timeline continued to change, like it had been doing thus far, then who knew what kind of future Thawne would be returning to… would he even still be alive or would he have simply never have been born?

This was too risky. He had to set the timeline back on track. The Flash _had_ to become a superhero! And now, looking at Barry Allen conversing with Leonard Snart, Cisco Ramon, and Caitlin Snow, Eobard thought that maybe the future would right itself. The only person standing in the way was Snart. Not for the first time, Thawne considered simply killing the crook. The future could survive without Captain Cold, after all. But Thawne had to remind himself of how the untimely death of Henry Allen had been the very thing to send Barry down this spiral to begin with: who knew how he would react to losing someone else that he cared about? Eobard, unfortunately, couldn't risk it.

But maybe there was another way to get Leonard Snart out of the picture…

Before long, Eobard Thawne had a plan forming in his mind and now he just had to wait until Cold was alone.

It didn’t take too long. Thawne watched the conflict occurring in Barry’s apartment: Cisco and Caitlin weren’t exactly happy about working with Snart and Snart was looking like he’d much rather bang his head repeatedly against a wall than listen to them whine about his criminal activities again.

Eventually, he declared that he was going for a walk and Eobard took his opportunity to confront Cold. He cornered him in an alleyway outside of Barry’s apartment, dressed in his yellow suit and emerging once again as the Reverse Flash. It felt _good_ to not have to hide anymore. Snart turned on him quickly, raising his cold gun at Thawne’s direction.

"Mr Snart," Thawne greeted with a sardonic nod and smile.

“Harrison Wells, I presume,” Snart drawled back, his face a completely blank slate and his finger hovered over the trigger.

“I do occasionally go by that name,” Thawne grinned. “But you can call me the Reverse Flash.”

“ _Catchy_ ,” he snarked back. “So, what are you doing here, _Reverse Flash_.” Thawne took a slow and calculated step forward, testing his limits. Snart’s finger didn’t even twitch.

“I’m here with a deal: you leave Central City now and I won’t kill you,” he stated simply. Snart looked to be considering it for a moment then shrugged.

“And why would I do that?” He asked, sounding completely calm and in control. He was too cocky for his own good.

“Well, what reason do you have to _stay_?” Eobard countered. “For the boy?” He scoffed and Snart narrowed his eyes slightly. “You really think that’s going to last? He’s not like you, and you know it. Now that he’s back working with Cisco and Caitlin again, how long do you think it’ll be until this little identity crisis of his is over? When he starts working with the CCPD again, which he _will_ ,” Thawne wasn’t as confident about that as he made out to be, but he was determined to get Barry Allen back on the right track so that his own future would remain unharmed. “Then how long do you think it will be before he stops wanting to _keep company_ with criminals?”

Snart remained silent, his face a cold statue. Thawne continued to step closer.

“I heard you were a smart man, Snart,” he continued. “That you weighed all of your options and didn’t go into anything blind. Why don’t you take a moment to weigh your options now,” Thawne encouraged. “Tell me, whose side would you rather be on? Barry’s, risking your life for the boy who will ditch you once he realises he’s better off a hero than a crook? Or your _own_ side, keeping out of my way and being free to continue doing _whatever_ you want _whenever_ you want?”

Snart didn’t lower the cold gun but Thawne noticed him standing up straighter as he made his decision. “I’m assuming there’s something specific you want me to do while I’m gone?” Snart asked.

“I don’t care,” Thawne scoffed. “Track down your sister, reunite with Mick, _hell…_ go write poetry at the sea for all I care. Just don’t come back until all of this is over.”

“And what are you offering me if I _do_ leave?” Snart drawled, his eyes sharp.

“How much is your life worth to you?” Thawne rebutted. Snart just shook his head with a brazen smile.

“If you wanted me dead then you wouldn’t be offering me a deal to get me out of your way,” he pointed out and purposefully lowered his cold gun to prove his point. “And I don’t do _anyone_ favours. So, what are you offering?”

"How about the contents of Central City Bank?" Eobard bit out. "I can get it here to you before you even have a chance to say paycheck: you'll find I'm quite the bit faster than Barry Allen."

“Enticing...” Snart drawled as he holstered his cold gun. “But no dice.” Thawne ground his teeth together in annoyance but Snart just kept talking. “If I wanted money I could rob a bank. And if I wanted trinkets, I could steal them myself. You see, I’m a thief: it’s my job. I’m good at it and, most importantly, I _enjoy_ it. No, what I want from you is something I can’t get by myself.”

“And that is?” Thawne asked, getting increasingly angry and impatient.

“Information.” Snart leaned back against the wall with a smug look on his face, crossing his arms. “About you.”

“Me?” Thawne scoffed, getting suspicious. “And why would you want _that_?”

“You can’t put a price on knowledge,” Snart drawled. “You’re a scientist, surely you understand that. And anyway, colour me curious: I don’t like being left in suspense and, since I’m leaving, I have a feeling this is the only chance I’ll get to find out the truth. So, why did you kill poor old Nora Allen?” Eobard considered Snart for a moment, trying to decide what the other man would do with the information. It was harmless, really: information that he would likely freely taunt Barry with later to goad the young speedster into helping him…

“Short answer: she was in my way,” Thawne eventually enunciated, and Snart stood up a little taller. Thawne watched his face carefully but saw nothing more than simple curiosity in his features. Still, Snart was good at schooling his features. Not that he could fool Thawne: if he decided to stay and help Barry instead of taking this deal, Eobard would know. It was, after all, so easy to stay a step in front of his opponents when he had their places littered with bugs and cameras.

“And the longer answer?” Snart asked. Thawne just grinned.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Snart thought that over for a moment, the alleyway silent if not for the sound of passing cars, before nodding.

“A deal’s a deal,” he ultimately accepted, pushing completely off the wall. Eobard wasn’t _entirely_ satisfied though and narrowed his eyes, speaking up once more.

“And Snart,” he said slowly, “know that if you come back, I _will_ rip your heart from your chest. Do I make myself clear?" Snart's mouth tightened slightly: the only giveaway that he didn't appreciate the threat. But even still he didn't make another move for his cold gun, probably having already weighed up his odds against Thawne and realised that he could never win in a fight. Smart.

“Clear as ice.” Snart eventually drawled and walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, I had this chapter completed last week but forgot to post it. Anyway, thoughts?
> 
> Nearing the end of this fic now :)
> 
> PS. In case it wasn't implicitly clear, Eob'ast'ard (thank [Shadow_hunter93](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadow_hunter93/pseuds/Shadow_hunter93) for that moniker!) lost his cool (heh) with Cisco because he saw Len and Barry planning to leave Central through his cameras.


	10. Chapter 10

“Where’s your boyfriend gone?” Cisco asked. “Not that I’m particularly upset that he’s not around,” he added snidely and Barry glared. It had been several hours now since Len had left to ‘ _cool down_ ’. He wasn’t answering Barry’s texts and his phone went straight to voicemail when Barry rang it. To say he was concerned would be an understatement. Barry shook that off as best as he could, though. Len's phone could have simply died, or maybe he’d dropped the number when they planned on leaving Central together today and just forgot to tell Barry? Just because he’d been gone for longer than expected didn’t mean there was any reason to worry…

“How’s that software coming along?” Barry asked and Cisco gave a vague shrug.

"I'm really more of a builder than a coder. Give me a machine to build and great, I could get a prototype ready ASAP But, ask me to design a programme? It's really not my area of expertise," Cisco reasoned. "Plus, we need to think about how we can install it, anyway. I mean, I'm an engineer, not a hacker. Without STAR Labs satellite, it's going to be really difficult to use this."

Cisco gestured to the computer in front of him: pages of code covering the screen. They needed this software to find Wells. It was basically a speedometer. Once it was made and uploaded to a satellite, all they’d have to do is sit back and wait for Wells to use his powers again and they would have his location. It was the only way that any of them had come up with to track Wells and it was vital to their plan to stop him.

Barry thought of Felicity Smoak… she would be able to finish the task if Cisco couldn’t. But… how the hell was he going to explain everything? She knew the bare minimum about his past, nothing about his powers, and he hadn’t even talked to her since he woke up from his coma – having dodged her calls consistently after his father’s death until she eventually gave up trying.

“We… might know someone who could do it,” Caitlin spoke up. “And he definitely has a few reasons to hate Wells, so he might just help us.” Before Barry could give it any thought or ask the man’s name, Cisco jumped to his feet.

"Caitlin, can I talk to you for a second?" He asked in an unhappy voice, marching to the other side of the room, standing in the doorway that leads to Barry's bedroom. Caitlin sent a small smile Barry's way before following him. " _You can’t_ seriously _be suggesting who I_ think _you’re suggesting_!” Cisco stage-whispered angrily. Caitlin’s reply was much quieter and softer, out of the scope of Barry’s hearing. But Cisco was just as loud as before as he half-whispered: “ _you want us to work with_ three _criminals? No way, I won’t do it_.”

Their argument continued on like that for a little while and eventually Barry blocked it out, checking his phone for any messages from Len.

Nothing.

Barry busied himself by tidying away the wrappers and containers from lunch until the two STAR Labs scientists agreed not to bring in any additional help. Barry didn’t know whether he preferred it this way or not. It was important in his line of work to be wary of everyone you didn’t know, Len had taught him that, but there was no way he was going to let Harrison Wells slip through his fingers.

A few more hours passed and there was still no word from Len.

Barry barely resisted pacing the floor as he stared at the clock. He’d give it another half an hour. Half an hour and if he still hadn’t heard anything then he’d go look for him. Barry’s eyes caught on the giant stuffed teddy bear that Len had stolen for him on their 2nd date and he started to feel sick.

This wasn’t like Len. He wouldn’t just leave Barry worrying like this. What if Barry’d hung around here waiting for too long already? What if Len was seriously injured and dying somewhere?

Twenty-eight minutes.

No, dammit, Barry couldn’t wait that long. He’d been waiting for too long already!

“I’m going to go find Len,” Barry announced to the room while Caitlin and Cisco argued over something that Barry was having a hard time caring about right now. They looked his way but Barry didn’t pause any longer before racing out of his apartment, sparing a glance at the cars outside his building and not seeing Len’s anywhere.

He went to the warehouse Len had been crashing at first, not slowing down to use the doors and instead choosing to phase right through the walls. It was empty: the electric turned off, fridge emptied, no clothes remained. And, most importantly, no Len. He went to the lake behind it, which Barry had discovered was one of Len’s favourite places to sit and think, but that was deserted too. Then Barry started making his way around the bars, starting with the closest and spanning out.

The third bar he checked was Saints and Sinners. It was pretty empty at this time of day, not exactly the place that most people would visit for an early dinner, and so Barry saw right away that Len was not there. Barry’s heart sunk a little further; out of all the bars in Central, Barry had assumed that this one would be the most likely. Len was close with owners here, having known them for most of his life. If he wasn’t here, then maybe he wasn’t looking to be found.

“You here to pay your tab?” A voice called before Barry could leave. He turned to the bartender. A large, muscular, dark-skinned man who’s name Barry vaguely recalled as Charles. He was the owner’s son. “Lenny said you’d be swinging by to pay off your tab today,” Charles prompted further and Barry reached into his back pocket for his wallet.

“Sure,” he muttered as he approached the bar, trying to come up with the next place to look. Maybe he should check the precinct lock-up? If some cops had recognised Len and brought him in for some reason, then it might explain his disappearance.

Charles slid a piece of paper over to Barry. It was a receipt, but there were instructions scribbled on it in a thick black sharpie. Barry read it quickly, memorising each word, as he pretended to occupy himself counting out his notes.

The note was from Len, but it wasn’t in his handwriting. He must have called the bar and asked them to pass on this message discretely to Barry if he came looking.

The instructions were simple: go to the fourth building on the road where they first met, tell no one, leave his phone here. Barry put a few hundred dollars on the bar for Charles and subtly dropped his phone onto the bar stool next to him before leaving. The first place they met was at Central City Museum. That was at the end of Lincoln Road, it was mostly residential at the other end of the road. But the houses were too grand for Len to have a safe house there. He'd never waste his money buying a house in such a neighbourhood.

Despite how little it made sense, that’s where Barry went.

The house was about as obnoxious as Barry had assumed it would be, bigger than anyone could ever possibly need. There were no signs of anyone home inside and so Barry ran around to the back door. The lock was iced over and broken. Barry finally felt himself settle: Len was in there. He pushed the door open and went inside, finding Len waiting for him in the dining room with feet up on the oversized wood table.

“Glad you got my note,” Len said, sitting up properly as Barry entered the room. Barry frowned at him.

“Len? What are we doing here?”

“I remember reading a story in the newspaper a few weeks ago about a couple who won the lottery and wasted it on this house and a world cruise,” Len stated and shrugged. “I needed a place to crash with absolutely no affiliation to me and this seemed pretty convenient.”

“I don’t understand.” Barry shook his head. “Why are you hiding? _Who_ are you hiding from?”

“Harrison Wells bugged your apartment,” Len said, slowly standing up and moving around the table to get closer to Barry. “My safe house too. I expect there’s more.” Barry blinked at him. That’s why Len wasn’t answering his phone. And why he asked Barry to leave his at Saints, in case there was a bug on it.

“How do you know?” Barry asked and straightened his shoulders, preparing himself for the answer.

“He found me this morning in the alley behind your apartment. Told me to leave town and forget about you, him, everything,” Len explained. Barry closed the gap between them.

“He threatened you?” Barry asked, though he already knew the answer.

“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” Len brushed off. “But he let too much slip, had information that he shouldn’t know.” Len paused for a second before continuing. “I had to pretend to leave; so I couldn’t risk going back to you.”

Barry nodded, feeling sick. Wells had been… what? Listening in on his conversations? _Watching_ him? How long had he been stalking Barry and invading his privacy?

“How are you feeling?” Len asked, having probably picked up on Barry’s distress. Barry huffed out a humourless laugh.

“Like the man I idolised turned out to be a murdering psychopath who killed my mother,” Barry bit back. He felt guilty instantly: Len didn’t deserve his spite.

“I know the feeling,” Len replied softly, so quiet that Barry almost didn’t hear it. It took a moment for Barry to fully register the meaning of those words.

“… You do?” He asked. Len looked conflicted for a moment. He moved away from Barry to the table, sitting on it and stretching his legs out in front of him. Eventually, he looked back up at Barry and nodded.

“My dad… he didn’t kill my mum, not directly anyway: he beat her, drove her away from us and into the bottom of a bottle. She died from an overdose about a year after Lisa was born and dear old dad switched his anger onto me and Lise instead,” Len explained. His face was carefully blank but his voice held a lot of pain, hate, and resentment.

“You never told me that. Jeez, and I’ve been here whining about _Joe_ this whole time.” Barry’s issues with his foster father felt small in comparison. Len never spoke much about his family, only Lisa, and now Barry was starting to understand why.

“I don’t talk about it very often,” Len shrugged it off and looked away. “But so long as I’m risking my life for someone I might as well be honest with them.” That made Barry stiffen. “I have a plan now to take Wells down,” Len said, looking back Barry’s way. “Go grab your scientist buddies, we’ll need their help.”

[] [] []

“How can we trust you?” Cisco scoffed to Len. “You’re a _criminal_.”

Barry had whisked Cisco and Cait away from his apartment and to this… mansion? At what size, exactly, did a house become a mansion? Well, whatever it was, they were brought here without even a warning or explanation. And now they were supposed to just follow Captain Cold’s plan? Without question? The guy had been missing for most of the day, who was to say he was even on their side?

“So am I,” Barry declared. And, yeah, that was true… but it was different with Cold; it was  _personal_. Barry had never stolen from Cisco, but Len sure as hell had and he was flaunting that damn cold gun around in front of Cisco like a prize. “And I trust him a hell of a lot more than I trust either of you.”

Cisco shared a look with Cait. Neither of them liked working with Captain Cold, least of all Cisco, but they felt guilty for their roles in what Wells had done. For the particle accelerator and all the lives lost in the, apparently intentional, explosion. They’d stuck by Wells and believed in him. They had been blind. Now they had to help bring him to justice. But, they knew they couldn’t do it alone. To fight a speedster, they needed a speedster.

“ _Fine_ ,” Cisco sighed. If they had to work with Len (a guy who wouldn’t even tell them his full name!) to get Barry’s help, then that’s just what they’d have to do. “We’ll do it your way.” Beside him, Cait agreed. At least they were in this together.

“One more thing,” Len grinned in a way that made Cisco’s skin crawl. “I’m going to need you to make another gun…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of little Easter eggs (kinda): the criminal that Cait suggests recruiting to join the team is Hartley (my baby! I so wanted to include him in this fic but there’s not really a role for him). And the house they’re squatting at is the same house Len, Lisa, and Mick squat at in Rogue Time when they kidnapped Cisco and Dante.
> 
> Anyway, I took a couple of months off writing because life got hectic. And I can’t really promise quick updates for my other two WIP fics because I’m also now writing fics for coldflash week _and_ Sterek week. But considering this one only has 2 chapters left, I’ll prioritise it so I can get it finished :)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised an earlier update but then I had to prepare for job interviews and after that I lost motivation, blah, blah, blah. Same old excuses, I know. But I’m back now and there’s only 1 more chapter left to write :)

“I don’t like this,” Cisco muttered as Lisa picked up the new gun. “I’m an engineer, not some… black market arms dealer.” Lisa fired the weapon for the first time at a nearby chair, watching in fascination as it became completely encrusted with the toxic gold substance. A lip-splitting grin broke across her face.

"Ever thought that you missed your calling, Cutie?" She sang and Cisco blushed at the pet name. Len, who had been watching the interaction, sighed and rolled his eyes. He turned away from his sister and back to where Barry, Doctor Snow, and Mick were discussing ways to track down Wells. The Doctor was giving Mick a wide berth as he caressed his new heat gun, watching him wearily.

After being confronted by Doctor Wells, Len had driven out of town, ditched his car and phone, and immediately gotten into contact with his sister. She was still in Keystone with Mick and it hadn’t taken long for her to convince the pyromaniac to come to Central City and help out Len again. Their relationship had become estranged over the past year, but they were still friends… brothers, even. The heat gun that Len had sent Lisa off with had probably helped, too.

Len walked closer to the small group

“Erm, Barry. You need to see this,” Cisco called over. He and Lisa were now standing in front of the TV, a remote in his hand. He unmuted the TV and Len could practically see Barry’s heart clench through the look in his eyes.

“ _This speedster in yellow sent a video into our station with a message,_ ” the reporter said _._ “ _Warning, the following footage may be upsetting for younger viewers._ ” And then the video started. The footage was clear as day, showing Wells in his _Reverse Flash_ suit. But his face was vibrating. It was weird to look at, giving Len a sensation of motion sickness.

The sound of a woman crying out sounded on the screen, but she was out of the shot for the time being. Until Wells raised his hand, fingers knotted inside long, thick, black hair, and a woman was pulled to her feet beside him. Barry stiffened, his breathing quickening. The woman was trying to be brave but tears slipped from her eyes, the little makeup she wore running down her ebony cheeks. Only once she was fully on screen did Wells start talking, his voice distorted and inhuman.

“ _If you want to see Iris West alive again, Flash, then you’ll come to the Laboratories._ Alone _. And we’ll finish what we started._ ”

The message was short but effective. Barry was literally shaking with anger, his hands vibrating by his side, by the time that Wells dropped the girl back to the floor and the video cut off. No one spoke. Barry’s short, fast, laboured breaths the only things that Len could hear.

“Who’s she?” Lisa eventually broke the silence. Barry didn’t look very inclined to answer and so Len took that upon himself.

“They… grew up together,” he drawled. There was much more to the story than that, he knew, but the details didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Wells had taken someone that Barry cared for.

“S’not all bad,” Mick muttered and Len nodded slightly at that. Barry, on the other hand, whirled around in a crack of light with anger in his eyes.

“He kidnapped my sister!” Barry all but shouted, looking like he was seconds away from slamming Mick up against a wall. Len put a hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder to calm him down. Barry may have his speed, but Mick wouldn’t back down from a fight and Len wasn’t so sure that Barry could win that one. He didn’t exactly feel keen about finding out, either.

“Mick just means,” Len started, soothing the electricity that sparked in Barry’s eyes. “That we still have the element of surprise. Wells is trying to draw you out, which means he doesn’t know where you are or who you’re with. He doesn’t know that I’m still in the city, he doesn’t know that Lisa and Mick are here with us.”

STAR Labs wasn’t exactly a neutral zone. In an ideal world, _they_ would have chosen where this fight was going to take place, not Wells… but it could still be turned to their favour.

Caitlin and Cisco were quick to bring up the blueprints for STAR Labs. They worked swiftly at choosing a room for the fight and adjusting their plan to fit the new circumstances. It wasn’t long before the four of them got ready to head out, Dr Snow and Cisco excluded as they stayed behind to provide support from behind the monitors… they would just be a liability against Wells anyway.

While Len was checking his cold gun over, Barry pulled him away from the rest of the group and into a side room.

“I have a favour to ask you,” Barry whispered, his voice sounding broken. “I wanted to do it myself but… I don’t think that I can.”

[] [] []

“Calm down, Miss West,” Thawne commanded as Iris struggled to break free of her restraints. She was a fighter, Thawne would give her that, not exactly what he had been expecting when he’d lured her to STAR Labs under the pretence of helping Barry Allen. She definitely wasn’t the damsel in distress type that Thawne had always assumed she’d be. “I’m not going to kill you.” And he wouldn’t: she would play a key role in Barry’s future, meaning that she was also vital for Thawne’s.

“You can’t keep me tied up forever,” she bit out. “My boyfriend and dad are cops. They’ll come looking for me!”

“And you think they’ll find you _here_?” Thawne smirked, indicating to the room they were in: the time vault hidden inside STAR Labs. No-one but Thawne knew of its existence. Iris shifted uneasily in the chair that she was tied to and she let her eyes wander to her surroundings again.

“Where _is_ here?” She muttered but Thawne didn’t answer. He instead turned back to the video holograms that Gideon was showing him. He grew ever anxious not knowing where Barry Allen and his team were. But it didn’t matter. It didn’t change Thawne’s plan. And now, while he was waiting, was the perfect time to start on the first part.

Thawne had been keeping watch over Iris and Eddie for the past year, their relationship being even more of a threat to Thawne’s future than Barry’s relationship with Snart was, and he knew he had to intervene. Eddie was looking at rings. If he proposed to Iris and she said yes… Eobard Thawne would never be born.

"I'll let you go soon," Thawne told her. "And then you can run back to the man you love. Whoever you think that may be." Iris' brow furrowed but she remained silent. The look of confusion added to her already fearful and angry features. Thawne grinned as he continued. "Oh, _Iris, Iris, Iris_... You don't even know your own emotions, do you?” His hostage stiffened, her face screwed up in defiance. “Have you never wondered why you feel so lost without Barry Allen around? So empty? Not even your lover’s arms can fill that pit that Barry left in you when he shunned you from his life. And you still haven't figured out _why?”_

“Did you kidnap me to give me relationship advice?” Iris snarked. Getting defensive, maybe? Good. Maybe she wasn't so oblivious to her feelings as she let on.

“You can joke all you want. But I know,” Thawne rebutted. “I know your future, _Iris West-Allen_.” He pulled up the newspaper hologram then, showing it proudly to his hostage.

It was not the live headline, of course, simply a stored image. The real future was currently wildly off-course. But, if all went to plan today then it would soon be set back on the right path. Thawne smiled as he watched Iris soak in the picture: the year at the top of the page and the name on the by-line. A range of emotions flashed across her features before she settled on disbelief.

“What is this?”

“A newspaper.”

“From the _future_?” Iris scoffed, shaking her head. But there was a look in her eyes that Thawne couldn’t help but feel successful over.

“Weirder things have happened.”

“Like _what_?” Iris snarked back.

“Like men who can pull a hurricane out of thin air,” Thawne began, walking slowly towards his hostage. He was well aware of Iris’ research into metas... she knew _exactly_ who he was talking about. “Like women who can disappear from one place and reappear in another within a _blink_ of an eye.” He snapped his fingers once as he spoke to emphasise his point. Then he settled into a crouching position in front of her chair and looked her in the eye. “Like a man who can cause his whole body to alight in flame without getting burnt.”

“ _Mr Thawne,_ ” Gideon spoke up suddenly, interrupting him. But Thawne knew he had gotten his point across. “ _The Flash has arrived._ ”

“Bring up the video,” Thawne told the AI as he stood up and turned to face the front of the room. Gideon complied immediately and Thawne watched Barry Allen zipping from room to room in search of Iris West. He was alone. Perfect. Thawne moved around Iris using his considerable speed; untying the ropes that secured her to the chair and then retying her hands together, leaving her legs free so that she could stand.

He paused only long enough to say “hold on tight” before he started running. Iris stumbled back when they came to a stop seconds later in the loading bay. Upon realising that her legs were free, she struggled to get away but Thawne’s grip was too tight for her to escape him.

“Let her go!” Barry, who was standing on the opposite side of the large room, called out. He hadn’t bothered to disguise himself. His voice was easily recognisable and his chosen plain jeans and hoodie were doing nothing to conceal his identity underneath the bright lights of STAR Labs. Iris stopped struggling in her surprise. Her head shot directly to Barry’s position as she gasped out his name.

“I could...” Thawne paused and smirked. He pulled Iris closer to himself and held her in front of his body with his left hand, raising his right and vibrating it clearly for Barry to see. “Or I could put my hand through her chest and rip out her heart. Leaving you helpless to watch as I murder _another_ woman you love,” Thawne taunted. He saw the spark of anger, the flash of lightning, in Barry’s eyes. Good. Thawne had been watching Barry his whole life: when he was calm-headed, he was too smart for his own good. But when he was angry… anger makes people do stupid things. Whatever plan he had cooked up, whatever words Cisco and Caitlin were whispering into his ear as they sat and watched the scene play out behind the safety of a computer screen, Thawne wanted Barry to abandon it all.

“Why did you do it?” Barry grunted. “Why did you kill my mother?”

“That was never my intention, Flash,” Thawne admitted. “I only meant to kill _you_.” Barry took a step forward and Thawne grinned. He was getting to him.

“ _Why_?” Barry shouted, his voice cracking just a little bit.

“You and I have never been properly introduced,” Thawne said. Iris had stopped struggling to get away from him now, but he held on just as tightly anyway. “I am not Harrison Wells. I am Eobard Thawne. I was born 136 years in the future and I came all the way back here to kill you. Because I _hate_ you,” Thawne bit out. “And I hate who you will become even more. We’re enemies, rivals, opposites, _reverses_ of one another,” Thawne explained, the monologue that he had spent the past 15 years developing in his head… just waiting for this day when he would finally fight the Flash again.

“Time travel,” Barry scoffed. “That’s impossible.”

"Is it really?" Thawne hummed. "Some people would say that running faster than a speeding bullet is also impossible. But we can both prove them wrong about that now, can't we? And, soon, we'll both be able to prove wrong those nay-sayers about time travel. You're fast enough to do it. I may not approve of your relationship with Leonard Snart, but he _was_ a good motivator,” Thawne conceded, smirking when Barry stiffened at the casual mention of his boyfriend’s name. _Ex_ -boyfriend. It had now been over 24 hours since Snart had abandoned Barry and left Central City… it was bound to be a sore spot for the young speedster. “No, it’s not your speed that’s holding you back, just your mindset.

“For example, when I came back in time. I had a clear goal in mind: kill the Flash, the great hero of Central City. Kill him as a child and wipe him from the face of the earth. That’s you, by the way... the Flash. Though I doubt anyone would call you a hero now.” Thawne laughed cruelly. “I may not have killed Barry Allen, but it seems that I _did_ manage to kill Central City’s hero.”

Thawne had wiped the Flash’s name from the history books; he’d stopped Barry Allen from becoming Central City’s hero. It seemed he’d completed his mission, after all. But, oh, how foolish he had been 15 years ago. Back then, Thawne had never considered the consequences that killing the Flash would have on his own life… As much as it pained him to admit, he _needed_ the Flash to become a hero once more. Thawne just had to hope that having a villain to fight would help to fix the Flash’s priorities.

“You will _never_ be the man you were supposed to be, Barry Allen. I took that life from you when I butchered your mother in your childhood home.” And that was it, the final push that the Flash needed. With a pained shout, Barry charged him. Thawne flung Iris to the floor and out of their way as he easily dodged Barry’s assault. Barry was fast, but Thawne was faster and better skilled. Barry continued to attack blindly and Thawne continued to dodge every blow.

"You'll have to do better than that," Thawne taunted, making sure Barry knew that the Reverse Flash was the far superior speedster. He continued to allow Barry to attack and miss every single blow for a little longer to make sure that Barry had gotten the point. Then he went on the offence. With the force of all his speed behind him, Thawne punched Barry in the chest and sent the younger man flying.

Thawne was going to win this fight. And once he did, the rest of his plan would fall easily into place. After his victory, he would lock Barry up inside the pipeline cells along with Iris. He'd leave them in there long enough for Iris to talk Barry out of this self-destructive path he's on. Only then would he allow the two of them to escape. Free from Snart, with a clear villain to fight, and with Iris by his side, Barry would soon become the hero he's supposed to be. And once Thawne is certain the future is back on track, he'd make his final move: convincing Barry to send him back home.

Barry scurried to his feet. But before he could gain any balance, Thawne picked him up and flung him into the far wall. He could practically taste his victory. Thawne continued pushing him around until Barry could no-longer stand up. He was a wheezing mess on the cold ground, but still trying his best to keep going.

“ _Barry_!”

Iris’ scream echoed through the empty room as Thawne knelt over the young speedster and cracked his head against the concrete floor. Blood dripped down Barry’s face from a gash on his forehead, but Thawne wasn’t worried: it would heal in no time. Barry was half-way unconscious by this point. One more hit and the fight would fall out of him completely. Thawne grabbed a fistful of Barry's hoodie and used it to lift him to his feet. He pulled his fist back, about to deliver the final blow.

But then he was hit with a fierce pain, accompanied with a startlingly bright light, and then Thawne's hand was covered in ice. Thawne dropped Barry and staggered back, screaming out. He found it difficult to think further, being caught completely off guard.

“ _Cool_ party. Hope you don’t mind that I crashed,” a voice drawled. Thawne spun around, his vision slightly blurred, to search for its owner. He heard the sound of a weapon being fired from behind him and slipped on the sparkling substance that was suddenly covering the floor beneath his feet.

“What a _golden_ opportunity,” another voice, this one female, added in. Thawne’s mind struggled to catch up to the situation. He managed to focus on the ground underneath him. It was coated in a shimmering gold-like substance: slippery, no real traction. And his hand... it wasn’t just covered in ice… it was _frozen_ _solid_. All the way through, there was no way to rescue it. That’s why it hurt so much.

Gold and ice.

The Snart siblings.

Thawne managed to stand and began to run, cradling the ice that now replaced his hand against his chest, heading directly for the exit. Their presence changed things, he needed a new plan, he needed to get out of here and recoup. But the pain from the loss of his hand was making it more difficult to think and use his powers. He barely made it a few steps before his feet were frozen to the ground.

“Looks like someone’s got cold feet,” Snart drawled. And there he was, finally in view, an insolent smirk on his face. On instinct, Thawne began to vibrate his feet and legs, breaking the ice that encased them. Thawne was going to get out of this and then he was going to rip the beating heart from Snart’s chest.

“It's getting awfully chilly in here, hope you don't mind if I turn up the heat!”

Before Thawne could break free, he was hit with a blast from Mick Rory’s heat gun. He was thrown to the floor, his hand shattering against the concrete, and he screamed louder than he thought possible. The pain was blinding. He barely even noticed when Snart encased his torso in ice, securing him to the ground. He may even have passed out for a moment.

When his vision focused again, he was surrounded by the four criminals. Three guns were aimed directly at his heart and a bloodied Barry Allen stood front and centre. There was a darkness in his eyes that Thawne never thought he'd see in the Flash.

“I’ve been searching for you for my entire life,” Barry said, his voice cold and empty.

“And you finally got me,” Thawne sneered. “So, now what? You’re going to kill me?” Thawne shook his head. Barry wasn’t the Flash now, but he wasn’t a murderer either. “I took your mother from you, your life from you, in a way I even took your father from you,” he continued to push, certain that Barry Allen wouldn’t be capable of killing him. “But… despite that, you still can’t do it.” He needed Barry to come to that conclusion too: to the conclusion that he was a better man than his current teammates and not suited for this life of crime.

“Barry may be too good to kill you,” Leonard Snart said quickly, stepping forward. “But I’m not.”

The last thing Thawne saw was the bright light building down the barrel of Snart’s cold gun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to all those followers that I lied to when they asked if Mick was going to show up in this fic… to be fair, at the time I didn’t know I was lying. It was only after Len sent Lisa away with Mick’s gun that I thought the two of them might have a bigger role to play in this fic. They weren’t _really _necessary to the plot, but they were fun to write in nonetheless. Hope you liked this chapter. Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts. Only one more chapter to go now!__


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, I'm not dead.
> 
> I know it's been forever since the last update so have a quick recap: Barry and Len, having been dating for the past few months, decided to run away from Central City together. But uh-oh, Eobard Thawne (who was already pretty ticked off because Barry was going off script and becoming a master criminal instead of a superhero) caught wind off it through one of his hidden cameras and decided that enough was enough. He tried to scare off Len, unsuccessfully, and kidnapped Iris to draw Barry out. Thawne and Barry fought and Barry gained the upper hand as Len, Mick, and Lisa showed up to help him. The fight (and the last chapter) ended with Thawne dying.
> 
> This chapter picks back up with Iris’ POV of the fight... which was supposed to only be like 1k words but it somehow just kept growing... So I had to split this chapter up into two parts. Sorry but, despite my previous statements, this is not the last chapter.

When Dr Wells threw Iris to the floor, she only just managed to raise her hands in time to cushion the blow. Her wrists were still tied and so the hard concrete ripped small cuts on the skin of her forearms and for a moment she worried she had dislocated her shoulder too. But she was able to rotate it as she shuffled on the floor and turned over to watch the fight play out. She tried to blink her vision clear but soon realised that the blur of a fight she was seeing had nothing to do with a concussion. Barry and Wells were just moving so fast that her eyes couldn’t keep up.

Her heartbeat quickened and her breathing became quick and shallow. Wells’ words were ringing in her ears, the newspaper that he’d shown her in the forefront of her mind… the words _Iris West-Allen_ forever imprinted in her brain, murder and _time travel_ , and now _this_? It was too much. She could barely breathe.

And then the blurs focussed again and she saw Barry lying bloodied on the floor. For a moment, her heart stopped. Wells cracked Barry’s head against the concrete floor.

“ _Barry_!” She screamed. Wells lifted Barry up, looking like he was going to kill him. She tried to scramble to her feet, knowing that there was nothing she could do to help but she wasn’t just going to sit back and watch Wells kill her… her… her what? Brother? Friend? … Something more? Right then it didn’t matter. She loved Barry, whether that love was platonic or romantic didn’t matter.

But then there was a stream of bright, blinding, light and Iris stumbled back as she heard Wells scream out in pain. Her whole world shifted abruptly. For a moment, she was weightless and breathless. The world around her a complete blur. Then she blinked and the world settled. She was on her feet in an unfamiliar dining room with two other people.

She felt dizzy and sick and confused. She saw a sharp-looking dinner knife on the nearby table and lurched for it. Her wrists were still tied and so it made the action difficult but not impossible. She held the knife in front of her with both her hands. And then she recognised the two people in the room…

“Caitlin?!” She was the doctor who looked after Barry when he was in a coma. Cisco was here too, sitting at the table with two laptops in front of him. For a moment she felt safe with the familiar faces. Then she stiffened again. “You work for Wells.”

“We _did_ ,” Caitlin conceded. “But we don’t anymore. We never knew what he was like,” she reassured Iris quickly. “Not until he attacked Cisco.” Caitlin turned to look at her friend, pointedly. Iris’ eyes skipped over to the engineer, his hands held high in surrender. There was a moment of silent communication between the two friends before Cisco slowly lowered one of his hands enough to tug at his shirt collar. The hand-shaped bruises were hard to mistake. “Barry brought you here to keep you safe,” Caitlin continued and there was something in her eyes that made Iris believe her.

“Barry’s…” Iris was lost for words. “He’s… fast.”

“Yeah, he is,” Caitlin laughed lightly. But there was still tension in her brow. Iris realised she was still holding the knife and dropped it, hearing it clatter as it fell to the floor.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” she muttered and Caitlin rushed to her side. She quickly led Iris to sit on one of the dining chairs and made quick work untying her wrists. Caitlin started to ask her questions to determine if she had a concussion as she cleaned the cuts on Iris’ forearms.

After a few seconds, Iris’ eyes landed back on Cisco. He had lowered his hands and had turned back to his laptop, only part of his face now visible to Iris. But she could clearly tell that his eyes were wide and his skin had paled. Iris’ nausea returned full-force.

“What’s wrong?” She asked though she doubted that she really wanted to know.

“Nothing,” Cisco replied all too quickly, his voice a few octaves too high. He smiled at her but it wasn’t reassuring. Caitlin paused in cleaning Iris’ wounds. But before anyone could say or do anything else, the room was suddenly filled with electricity. And then Barry, his face beaten and bloodied, was back. Barry and three others who Iris had never met before.

Caitlin relaxed considerably but Cisco still looked worried, and that was the only thing holding Iris back from leaping to her feet and embracing Barry. That and the two large men on either side of him who were emanating a clear and dangerous “back off” vibe.

“What the hell did you do?” Cisco demanded. Barry stiffened.

“We stopped Wells,” Barry said, his voice harder and colder than Iris had ever heard from him before.

“Stopped…” Cisco laughed darkly. “You were supposed to lock him up. You weren’t supposed to _kill_ him!” Iris’ stomach dropped to the floor and Caitlin, who had been grabbing some wipes for Barry’s face, froze in spot. The others that Barry had arrived with, however, seemed unfazed.

“Plans change,” one of the men shrugged off as he removed a pair of goggles from his head, reviling a pair of piercing blue eyes.

“You murdered him!” Cisco accused, stepping forward and pointing a finger at the man with blue eyes. Another of the newcomers, a hulking man with burns covering his arms and fire in his eyes, lunged forward in response, heading right for Cisco. But Blue Eyes grabbed the man's shoulder to hold him back. Iris had already jumped to her feet, the tension in the room suffocating, and now she just stood there scared as the final newcomer, a brunette woman covered in black leather with an odd-looking gun strapped to her thigh, led the hulking man out of the room while whispering something about the kitchen and food to him. "We should have never worked with criminals," Cisco whispered, his voice choked, seeming less angry now and more saddened.

At that, Barry finally looked at Iris. But she barely recognised him. This wasn't the Barry she knew. His face was hard, his eyes cold. His emotions used to be written all over his face but now he was closed off and unreadable. It unsettled her more than his busted-up nose and black eye did.

“Are you okay?” Barry asked her, ignoring the way that Cisco was retreating in on himself or how Caitlin had backed away to join him. The blue-eyed man moved back to lean against a wall, his arms crossed in front of him, watching Barry and Iris closely.

“I’m fine,” Iris muttered, her throat dry. Barry turned to Caitlin who nodded.

“I don’t think she has a concussion and her cuts are minor,” Caitlin responded warily. “Yours on the other hand…” she took a step forward again but Barry just waved her off.

“I’ll heal,” he said flippantly, surprising Iris even further. Caitlin shook her head and left the room, muttering something about cleaning up. Cisco trailed after her leaving Iris alone with Barry and the blue-eyed man lurking in the corner.

“Did Wells say anything to you?” Barry asked her. When she didn’t answer right away, Barry seemed to notice the way that she was staring at the other man in the room. Barry turned to look behind him and they shared the kind of non-verbal communication that only two people who were close could understand. Blue Eyes nodded quickly and left the room. At that, Iris relaxed slightly. Though she still felt nervous standing in the strange house with a Barry that she barely even recognised anymore.

“Your… _friends_ scare me,” she admitted.

“What? Len?” Barry laughed, hooking a finger behind him to indicate the blue-eyed man who had just left the room. “You don’t need to be scared of him. He wouldn’t hurt us. He’s… he’s my boyfriend,” Barry admitted. He was smiling for the first time since he’d arrived. Somehow… that just made this whole thing worse.

“Barry… your boyfriend _killed_ someone today!” She reminded him and the brightness in his eyes dimmed once more.

“Yeah, I know,” he replied, solemnly. “I asked him to do it.” Iris baulked at him.

“Barry…” she shook her head, lost for words. This was like a bad dream. Had Wells taken her to some other universe? Because nothing that had happened today made any sense. As her silence stretched, Barry became angrier.

“What? You think Wells didn’t deserve to die? He killed my _mum_ , he _tried_ to kill me, he could have killed _you_!”

“It wasn’t your call to make,” Iris said quietly, stepping back as she saw sparks glow in Barry’s eyes and the space between them suddenly became suffocating with tension and electricity. “You should have arrested him,” she continued to insist, despite the way the air and suddenly become too thick to breathe.

“Arrested him?” Barry scoffed. “No prison can contain people like him. People like _me_. I can vibrate my cells so much that I can just walk _through_ solid matter. And Wells, or Thawne, or whatever his name was… he was faster than me, Iris. If I can do that, what do you think _he_ could have done?!”

Iris shook her head and closed her eyes as she ran her fingers through her hair. The image that Wells had shown her, the ‘ _Iris West-Allen_ ’, was still burned into her head; but the more she thought about it, the more preposterous that would-be future sounded.

Wells knew a lot, but he didn't know Iris' heart. He’d almost got to her… almost convinced her that she was in love with Barry Allen. Because it was true that there was an inkling of feeling there, something that she herself had only become aware of after Barry stepped away from her all those months ago. But, now that the fight was over and she was safe, it wasn't Barry who her heart cried out to. Not _this_ Barry. Not even the old Barry that she had grown up with. He wasn't the one she wanted to go home to. It was Eddie. Her heart longed for him: for his arms, his kiss, his calming words whispered into her hair.

“I’m going home,” she said, interrupting whatever Barry had been about to say. Barry looked at her as though he was going to protest. But then he stopped himself and started to nod his head instead.

“I’ll give you a lift,” Barry offered and Iris took a small step back in response, shaking her head. She’d had her fill with being carried at superspeed for one day. Right now, she wanted a bit of normality.

“I’ll walk.”

“ _Alone_?” Caitlin spoke up from the doorway, making her presence known. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. You were just kidnapped.”

“I remember,” Iris muttered sardonically. She shook her head to disperse the fear before it could take hold of her and walked past Barry. Caitlin reluctantly moved out of her way. But Barry followed her. Iris didn’t know where she was going… this house was _big_. So she just followed the sound of commotion until she found herself in the kitchen. And there was the back door… with a hole in the glass. Just perfect. They were _squatting_ here.

“Iris wait,” Barry spoke up again and the people around her became quiet. “It’s dark out and you’re three miles from home,” he told her. “You shouldn’t walk it.”

“I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, Barry…” she said after a deep breath. “But I think I might just throw up if I have to do _that_ ,” she gestured vaguely at Barry and hoped that they would understand her meaning, “again.” And then there was the whole ‘ _I asked my boyfriend to murder someone for me_ ’ thing which… yeah, Iris couldn’t deal with that right now. It was just _too much_. She left that unsaid between them but she felt like Barry knew anyway.

“I have a car out back,” another voice joined in and Iris turned to find the source. The other woman in the room, the one that Barry had returned with but had never actually introduced, was smiling at Iris. “I could give you a ride,” she offered.

Iris took a second to think it over. The woman looked friendly enough and no one seemed outwardly worried at the offer. Caitlin actually looked relieved. Iris nodded and the woman led her out of the house and towards a small black convertible. Iris didn’t look back as she approached the car, though she could feel Barry watching her.

“Be thankful that I didn’t bring my motorbike,” the woman said offhandedly as she unlocked the car and Iris climbed into the passenger seat. Iris gave the address to her apartment with Eddie and the woman turned on the engine, pulling out onto the road. “I’m Lisa, by the way,” the woman said. “You’re Barry’s sister?”

“In a way,” Iris nodded and Lisa hummed thoughtfully. The road was dark and empty, Iris had to wonder what time it was and how long she had been tied up inside that bizarre room in STAR Labs. How long had she caused Eddie to worry?

“I guess we should get to know each other then,” Lisa continued. “One day we might be sisters.” That confused Iris and Lisa looked over at her as the silence spread. “I’m Lenny’s sister,” she elaborated. Lenny… as in Barry’s criminal boyfriend?

Maybe accepting this lift wasn’t such a good idea, after all.

“Lenny’s not a bad guy,” Lisa said, picking up on Iris’ sudden discomfort.

“He’s a criminal.” A _murderer_. Lisa just laughed, though there was something dark about it.

“Being a criminal and being a bad person are two very different things,” she said pensively. There was something about her tone of voice that made Iris pause and actually consider what she was saying. Lisa turned to Iris briefly, giving her the smallest of smiles. “Trust me.”

Soon the car was slowing down and Iris realised that she was home. She stumbled out her seat with a muffled ‘thank you’. Only realising when she got to the door that her keys were in her bag back at STAR Labs. She pressed the buzzer instead but there was no answer from her apartment. Of course, there wasn’t… Eddie was probably out looking for her. She should have gone to the precinct instead.

She turned back to the black sports car waiting at the curb of the road, but she doubted that Lisa would be willing to give her a lift to the police station. Iris shook her head and pressed the button for the apartment opposite hers. After a couple of seconds, the elderly lady that lived there answered the call.

“Hi, Mrs Marsden?” She spoke into the receiver. “This is Iris from next door. I’m… I’m locked out. Could you buzz me in?” The old lady was quick to help and only once Iris was safely inside did Lisa drive away. Apparently, there had been a story about her abduction on the news and so Mrs Marsden was extra attentive and more than happy for lend Iris her phone. She dialled Eddie’s mobile number from memory and waited for what felt like an excruciating amount of time for her boyfriend to pick up.

“Hello?” He answered and Iris was so overcome with emotion that she couldn’t get any words out and instead just wept into the phone. “Iris? Iris, is that you?” Eddie asked frantically. “Iris, are you okay? Where are you?”

“I’m okay,” she eventually managed to stutter out. “I’m okay. I’m home.” Joe was on the other end then, telling her how worried he’d been and reassuring her that they were on their way. And within a matter of minutes, she heard the sound of sirens blaring directly outside of the building. She stepped outside of Mrs Marsden’s apartment to the sight of Eddie and her father running up the stairs to her. She was soon enveloped in their arms, tears of happiness streaming down her face.

After everything that had happened that day, she was just so grateful to be back home again.

[] [] []

“Did you see the Flash there? Did he help you get away?”

Iris was at the hospital, her dad had insisted on it, giving her statement to an officer she had only ever met in passing before as Eddie sat by her side and Joe stood beside him.

“The Flash?” Iris asked, confused. It took her a while to place the name, but she soon remembered it as the moniker that Dr Wells had called Barry. Nothing Wells had said at that point had really made much sense to her, though. But, whatever the importance of this name was, it felt like it should be kept a secret. “I don’t know who that is.” The man taking her statement just nodded as he jotted something down.

“How did you get away?”

“I’m… I’m not sure,” she lied, feeling bad about it instantly as Eddie gave her hand a comforting squeeze. “One second I was inside STAR Labs, and the next I was standing on the side of the road with a severe case of nausea…” Iris continued giving her statement for the next several minutes, deliberately missing out all mention of Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, and the others.

Once that was over, the doctors gave her an all-clear but her dad insisted that she be kept under observation for the night to make sure she didn’t have a concussion. While Joe was doing that, Eddie left to go get them some coffees and Iris took the opportunity of solitude to google something on her boyfriend’s phone.

The Flash.

She had to know why he was important to the police. She had to know what _they_ thought Barry was.

The first result to come up was the kidnapping video that she barely remembered Wells recording. She’d been so scared that she hadn’t even recognised his words. But now that she was watching it back, she realised that this whole thing had been a trap for Barry… that thought made her stomach turn sour. She backed off from the video and another headline caught her eye: ‘ _Gone in a Flash_ ’.

She’d read that article just a couple of days ago, though it felt like months ago now, for her metahuman research. It was about a metahuman criminal: the Flash, the Blur, the Streak, the Impossible Thief… that was _Barry_?

So, Barry wasn’t just _dating_ a criminal… he _was_ a criminal. Iris’ stomach soured and she put away the phone. She couldn’t keep going over this in her head, she needed some rest.

Eventually, Eddie came back and Iris scooched over so that he could climb onto the bed with her. They rested together and watched TV for a little while and Iris finally felt safe.

She drifted in and out of sleep for some time, noticing at one point that Eddie had moved from the bed back onto the chair to give her some space to rest. She didn’t dream of anything and tried her best not to think about the events of the day, but that plan came crashing down once Eddie gently shook her awake.

“Hey,” he whispered to her. “Look who's here,” Eddie said happily, turning to look at the door to her hospital room where someone was standing awkwardly, waiting.

“Barry...” Iris muttered, surprised. He was wearing a red sweater vest with a dopey grin and sad, sincere, eyes. For a moment, Iris questioned whether everything that had happened these past 12 hours had actually been a dream because this was _not_ the Barry she had encountered earlier this day.

“I'll leave you two to talk,” Eddie said, standing and patting Barry on the shoulder as he left the room.

“What are you doing here?” She asked suspiciously, sitting up in the hospital bed.

“I wanted to make sure you're okay,” he replied but Iris shook her head, not convinced.

“No, you didn't,” she muttered as the real reason dawned on her. “You wanted to make sure I didn't rat you out for being the Flash,” Iris said harshly. And then Barry’s face shifted like he was removing a mask. And underneath it was the real Barry, his eyes sharper than she remembered with a hard set to his jaw. _This_ was the Barry that she’d met earlier today. The dopey and caring Barry had just been a bluff for Eddie’s benefit.

Barry was quiet but there was a question on his lips and Iris knew what it was.

“I didn’t, by the way,” she added and Barry’s shoulders relaxed slightly, his face softened just a little bit… but it was clear that he was no-longer the Barry that Iris used to know.

“Thank you.”

Iris didn’t know what to say. She didn’t understand how her best friend had changed this much. He’d gone from that sweet, kind, funny guy who worked for the police and barely had a brain-to-mouth filter, to a thief with ice in his eyes and a control that he’d never had before. It was unsettling.

“How did this happen?” She eventually asked. “How did you become a _criminal_?”

“You know how it happened, Iris,” he said. And this argument, at least, was familiar. But she noticed that there wasn’t as much venom in his voice as there used to be. She didn’t know whether that was another mask, though. Would it always be like this when she talked to Barry now? Would she always be questioning him?

“What happened to your parents, Barry… I can’t begin to imagine how that must feel,” Iris said, her heart aching as it finally clicked that Barry had been right all this time and no-one had believed him. The whole world thought Barry was delusional or crazy for believing that Henry was innocent… but he’d been right all along. She wondered how she would react to that kind of situation and it felt like being sucked into a black hole. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, though the ache in her chest remained. “But you’re better than this. You don’t need to steal and push away the people who love you,” she finished, her voice much softer now.

Barry remained quiet, and it suddenly felt like he was standing too far away from her. The space between them, both physically and emotionally, just added to the pain in her heart. She loved Barry, even now… even as a criminal. But not in the way that Wells had shown her. Maybe once there had been a spark of _something_ there. But not anymore.

“I love you like a brother, Barry,” Iris admitted, finally able to sort through her muddled emotions and find the truth behind them. “Better than a brother; you're the brother that I _chose_. You're my family and I miss you. And my dad misses you too.” She realised too late that talking about Joe right now was probably the wrong thing to do, that it would just drive Barry further from her. But Barry’s reaction surprised her. Instead of becoming stiff and angry, his face broke into a great sadness.

Iris automatically stood up, wanting to comfort Barry. But he took a step away from her. The distance between them all too real and heartbreaking. After a second, his face hardened again, like all his emotions and been wiped away.

“I’m never going to be who you want me to be,” he said, his voice harsher again. “I’m not the same person I was all them months ago.”

“You could be,” Iris interrupted. “It’s not too late.” Barry scoffed under his breath and shook his head. He turned away from her but paused on his way out the door. It seemed like forever until he spoke again, in a voice so soft that Iris had to strain to hear his words.

“I really _did_ come here to make sure you’re okay,” he whispered. And then he was gone in a flash of lightning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, guess who finally got a job! Yep. That’s me. I’m now a microbiologist :D
> 
> Unfortunately, the job has been drawing a lot of energy from me and so that’s part of the reason why this update is so much later than I promised. I’m trying to get back into the swing of writing again but it might take me a while. Also, because it's so close to Christmas, I don't have as much free time as usual. But, hang in there because the next chapter is _definitely_ the final one! And it's almost complete.
> 
> But in case I don't manage to get the final chapter up within the next couple of weeks, happy holidays, guys. I hope it's a good one for you all.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember how adamant I was that this would be the final chapter? Yeah, I was wrong. This thing just keeps growing!

Len watched Barry pace. He was silent but outwardly anxious as they waited for Lisa to return from dropping Iris off. They were all back in the dining room, Barry centre, Len and Mick leaning against a chest of drawers as Mick scoffed some sandwiches, and Cisco and Caitlin sitting at the dining table at the other end of the room, looking just as worried as Barry did.

Len wasn’t worried. At least, he wasn’t worried about the same thing that the others were chewing their lips over. He didn’t know Iris West, but it would take one cold son of a bitch to turn her brother in to the police after being rescued by him. So, no, he wasn’t concerning himself with the thought of cops showing up on their doorstep.

What worried Len was something entirely different. As he watched Barry pace back and forth across their new safe house, he couldn’t help wondering whether this was the beginning of the end for them.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Lisa’s heels clicking on the hardwood floor before she sauntered into the room. Lisa walked right up to the dining table and dragged a seat around so that she could sit directly next to Cisco, putting her feet up on the table as she leaned back and smirked at the engineer. Len rolled his eyes.

“Is Iris okay?” Barry asked.

“Safe and sound,” she replied and Barry nodded.

“Did she say anything?” Caitlin asked and Lisa shook her head.

“Not much. But I don’t think we have anything to worry about. She’s not going to rat us out,” she replied and Cisco bristled once again, glaring at Len from across the room.

“She wouldn’t have anything to rat us out for if _someone_ hadn’t made us all accomplices to _murder_ ,” he muttered and Lisa laughed, putting her hand on Cisco’s knee.

“Oh come now, Cisco. You aren’t still mad about that, are you?” She said, sweetly. Having already calmed him down about this once today while convincing him to wipe the security tapes at STAR Labs. Len rolled his eyes and turned to look at Barry instead. He’d stopped pacing but he looked devastated now that he thought no one was paying him any attention.

Len moved away from Mick and closer to his boyfriend. Barry, unsurprisingly, leaned into Len, silently communicating his exhaustion. Len wrapped Barry’s hand in his own, rubbing his thumb in soothing circles across Barry’s skin and lending strength to his boyfriend.

“I should go talk to her,” Barry whispered eventually, sounding resigned and saddened.

“Not like that, you shouldn’t,” Len responded. Barry had cleaned up the dried blood from his face now and the bruising around his eyes had healed, but the broken nose hadn’t been set in time and had healed incorrectly, looking bumpy and wonky on his face. His clothes were also blood-stained and ruined. It hurt Len to remember how Barry had been beaten nearly to a pulp by the Reverse Flash. Wells had deserved a much slower death than the one he was given…

After a moment of pause, Len led Barry out of the room and upstairs. He found some clean towels and sat Barry on the edge of the bathtub.

“I’m going to have to rebreak your nose,” Len said, an apology in his voice. Barry nodded and accepted two of the towels from Len. Len wet the other one ready and told Barry to close his eyes. He wished that he had something to give Barry for the pain, but he knew that his boyfriend’s metabolism would quickly burn through even the strongest medication.

Len sighed and just got to work. He’d never broken someone’s nose like this before and, if he was being honest, he wasn’t entirely certain of his actions. But he continued anyway. He found the healed break in Barry’s nose easily, pressed his palm against it and pushed in one fast, fluid, action. Barry grunted and winced, his eyes going red with the sudden tears, as the bones cracked once more. But he managed to hold steady and not flinch away.

Len immediately put the damp towel under Barry’s nose and directed him to lean forward until the bleeding had stopped. He realigned the nose as best as he could and then left the room to find something frozen to press against the swelling. He came back with a bag of peas and Barry grinned.

“You going to ice my nose, Captain Cold?” Barry teased, his voice a little bit nasal, and Len huffed a short laugh. He wrapped the peas in another one of the towels and gently pressed it against Barry’s nose, moving it every now and then to check the swelling.

“How do you feel?” Len asked as he noticed the distant look that had taken over Barry’s eyes, the frown on his lips, and the sag in his shoulders.

“Like my nose is broken,” Barry responded and Len shook his head.

“I wasn’t talking about that,” he said. Barry’s broken nose would heal a lot easier and quicker than the scars Wells had opened back up. And Len regretted the part he played in that. It had been _his_ plan, after all, for Barry to keep Wells talking as Len, Lisa, and Mick snuck into the building to back him up. He should have foreseen how easily Wells would turn that against Barry to get a rise out of the younger speedster. He shouldn’t have let that happen.

“I… I don’t feel any different,” Barry admitted slowly. “I don’t know what I expected but… I guess I thought that I’d feel relieved to finally end the man that ruined my life… but my parents are still gone and this doesn’t change that.” Barry’s voice was steady as he spoke, but he sounded lost. Len touched his arm, squeezing it lightly to show his support, and Barry took a deep breath. “I just hope that I can start to heal now… start to move on with my life… now that I finally know the truth.”

“You will,” Len reassured him and Barry offered him a weak smile in return. Len turned his attention back to Barry’s healing nose, pleased to note that the redness had gone down. He removed the peas from the towel and threw them into the bin before telling Barry to wash up, leaving him with the last of the clean towels. He left him to it as Len went to dispose of the bloodied towels. By the time Barry was out of the bathroom, the swelling had almost completely reduced. Barry zipped into some fresh clothes, adding the blood-soaked ones to the trash bag that Len was holding.

“How do I look?” Barry asked as he straightened the collar of his shirt. Len gave his nod of approval, indicating that Barry no longer looked like he’d gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson in his prime. Barry gave him a smile in return, pulling Len in for a lingering kiss before rushing away to visit Iris. Len nodded to himself, trying to brush away his worries, and went downstairs to the rest of the group. The tension seemed to have lifted slightly in Lisa’s return and even Cisco had calmed down about the whole ‘accomplice to a murder’ thing. Len suspected it had something to do with the engineer’s obvious crush on Lisa. Which Len and Mick found hilarious.

Someone had brought in the leftover takeaway and put it on the table, which meant that Mick was standing there and digging in. Cisco must have been starving because eventually he approached the table too, looking unsure but putting on a tough face. It reminded Len of the time that he’d first met the engineer. The stupid, brave, kid had tracked him down using a tracking device inside the cold gun, which Len had promptly removed once he discovered it was there, and tried to reclaim the weapon using a vacuum cleaner. Cisco was lucky, really, that Len had found the encounter so amusing. If another criminal had the stolen cold gun instead, it might not have ended up so well for the engineer.

“So you… like fire,” Cisco asked, cautiously, when Mick caught sight of him loading up a plate of food for himself. Mick smiled, wide and unsettling.

“Give a man a fire, and he'll be warm for an evening. But set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life,” the pyromaniac drawled, never letting his grin lessen any. Len shook his head and started to move forward to intervene. But Cisco was already backing away.

“Well, that’s…” Cisco’s smile dropped, “incredibly disturbing. Will you excuse me for a moment?” He muttered, grabbed an extra dumpling, and quickly walked away.

“Looks like someone can’t handle the heat.”

“Stop testing him, Mick. He did good,” Len said. Mick just grunted before going back to his food but Len took that as agreement.

It was only half an hour later when Barry returned to give them the all-clear. As Len had suspected, Iris hadn’t told anyone about what had _really_ gone down after she’d been kidnapped. Caitlin got out of there pretty quickly after hearing the news, eager to get away from the criminals she’d been forced to work with and put the whole mess behind her.

Cisco, however, was a little more hesitant now and stared back at Lisa. Lisa gave him a wink in return and Cisco blushed for a moment before his eyes flickered to Len, looking worried as though Len might shoot him. Len laughed at the thought of it: Lisa was dangerous enough, she didn’t need her big brother protecting her any more than Mick needed it. Len’s mirth didn’t seem to calm Cisco, who ran out of there pretty quickly to catch up with the good doctor.

Once the do-gooders had left, Barry finally relaxed. He seemed to almost deflate as he slumped down into a dining chair. He'd had a long couple of days and Len bet that Barry was exhausted. Thinking about it, Barry was probably starving too as Len couldn't remember the last time his boyfriend had eaten. He pushed some food towards Barry and Barry smiled graciously at him for it. Then Len got up to get them both something to drink. When he returned to the table again, Barry had already annihilated half of the takeout. Len smiled as he passed Barry the beer. Then he noticed Mick's gaping look of astonishment from across the table and didn't bother to hold back his chuckle.

“And I thought _I_ could pack it away,” Mick commented. Barry blushed and slowed to eat at a more natural pace.

“I wish I could eat like that and still be that skinny,” Lisa muttered, less amazed than Mick as this was the 2nd time now that she'd seen Barry speed-eating.

“It's all fun and games until he faints from hypoglycaemia,” Len added. Barry rolled his eyes.

“I didn't _faint_ , I passed out,” Barry insisted. "There's a difference.”

“Sure there is,” Len teased.

“And anyway, maybe if you didn't wear me out so much I wouldn't need to eat ten thousand calories a day,” Barry continued. Mick let out a loud booming laugh and Lisa almost did a spit-take, having no idea that Barry was not bigging up their sex life but was actually speaking about how Len insisted on Barry training his abilities on a near-daily schedule. 

Once Barry's mind finally caught up to his mouth, he blushed a deep shade of red and spluttered in his attempts to correct himself.

Len sat back a little and laughed as the conversation in front of him continued. There was a warmth in his chest that Len hadn't felt in quite some time. His relationship with Mick had been rocky, at best, (non-existent at worst) this past year. But Len had always known that it would only be temporary. Because Mick was as much of family to Len as Lisa was. And now... well, now Barry was becoming like family too... in a much different kind of way. And having all of them in the same room, laughing and enjoying each other's company, made Len feel great. Happy.

But there was a bittersweet aftertaste to it too that Len tried not to focus on. He tried not to think about the Reverse Flash's words, but they kept rearing their ugly heads anyway. They caused a feeling of dread in Len's stomach that he just couldn't shift, a feeling like he was about to lose Barry. And when Barry polished off his second plate of food, inevitably turning to Len with the words “can we talk” whispered in a much too severe tone, the pit in Len's stomach only grew deeper. They slipped quietly from the table together, unnoticed as Lisa and Mick loudly debated whether black bean sauce or sweet and sour sauce was better in a stir-fry.

Instantly, Len’s chest felt tight. He’d known this was coming but he hadn’t expected it to be so soon. He supposed it would be a relief to get this over with instead of dragging it out over the coming weeks or months. Still, Len couldn’t help but wish for a few more days, _hours_ even. Len led Barry to the kitchen, leaning back against the counter and waiting patiently as Barry struggled to get his words out.

“You don't want to leave Central City anymore,” Len assumed for him and Barry’s eyes went wide. He quickly shook his head.

“ _No_. No, that's not what I was going to say! Not at all. In fact, if this whole thing has done anything it's reinforced just how badly I _do_ want to leave!” Barry insisted and Len frowned slightly but nodded for Barry to continue. “It's just... there's something I have to do before we leave... I need to talk to Joe.”

“Joe West?” Len asked, cautiously, as he stood up a little straighter and Barry nodded.

“Yeah. I realised something today: I don't want to stay mad at him. I need to talk to him. I know that we'll never have the same kind of relationship that we had before, the trust has been broken now, but he was like a father to me for a long time. And... Iris was right: I'm only hurting myself and the people who care about me by shutting them out.”

Len smiled and offered his encouragement to Barry. But he could help but be reminded of Well’s threat: “ _how long do you think it’ll be until this little identity crisis of his is over?… How long do you think it will be before he stops wanting to keep company with criminals_?” Unaware of where Len’s mind had taken him, Barry smiled in relief before retreating back for more food. Len followed him back and tried to put it all out of his mind but he couldn’t help worrying, and not for the first time, that Wells was right.

[] [] []

“What you doin’, Cisco?” An unexpected voice asked, making Cisco jump a mile. He spun around to see Lisa leaning against a wall further down the corridor.

“ _God_! “Don’t _do that_ ,” he complained. “You damn ninja,” he finished the last part under his breath, but Lisa’s answering grin told him that she had heard. He turned back to the wall he’d been examining as Lisa stalked closer.

Truthfully, he was actually glad to see her. And not just because she was _stunning_ and he craved to be near her again even though it had only been a couple of days since their last encounter. But because the empty halls of STAR Labs felt haunted now. Cisco’s heart was in his throat at every noise, imagining that he’d turn around to find Wells’ ghost returned to finish the job. The bruises on his neck stung harder at the mere thought. Having some company made it easier to relax and put the thought of ghosts out of his mind.

“What are you doing here?” He asked absentmindedly as he prodded at the wall in front of him… It had to be around here somewhere…

“I figured Lenny and his boyfriend could use some alone time,” Lisa shrugged. “So, I went for a drive. Imagine my surprise when I saw your van parked outside.” Technically it wasn’t _Cisco’s_ van. It belonged to the Labs. He’d simply commandeered it a few months ago and retrofitted it to help with the search and capture of their metahuman criminals. But Cisco knew that the question in Lisa’s voice had nothing to do with the van.

“I wiped the tapes like you asked,” Cisco admitted, giving up on his search for the moment so that he could turn to face Lisa and explain why he was currently groping a wall. “But I couldn’t find any footage of Wells holding Iris captive. I figured it didn’t matter so long as there was no evidence of it, right? But… I got curious.” Cisco shrugged. He explained to Lisa about the 3D rendering of the labs he had created after the particle accelerator explosion, and how he’d just found a discrepancy in the blueprints that could only point to one thing: a hidden room.

Lisa looked impressed. But that soon shifted to amusement as Cisco leant back, and the wall began to shift behind him, causing him to promptly fall _through_ it and onto his ass. Part of Cisco was embarrassed and cursing his bad luck that he’d found the pressure sensor at _that_ particular moment. The other, much larger and geekier, part was much too excited to have found Wells’ hidden lair to care much about his bruised ego (not to mention his bruised ass).

Lisa followed him into the room, helping him up. They looked around the room, pretty small as far as evil lairs went but still pretty _awesome_ , and read the article that was projected against one of the walls. The article itself was nothing special, just an account of a robbery that a metahuman dubbed Mirror Master had caused. (Which was a pretty awesome name actually. And whoa, if Cisco now ran into this Scudder guy and named him Mirror Master, would it be because he wanted to or because this article had already told him to? Time paradoxes, man: they made Cisco’s head spin.) The date and the name on the by-line, however, was another story altogether. If Cisco had doubted Wells’ time-travel story before, he sure as hell didn’t anymore.

It didn’t take long for them to accidentally discover the AI that called itself Gideon, nor for them to learn that it was basically a window into all of their futures. And once they did, Lisa’s grin turned a lot more devilish.

“Why hello there, Magic Eight Ball,” she drawled, looking like the cat that got the cream. Cisco knew this could only end in disaster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I was going to just post the 8k chapter (which actually isn't _that_ big but I don't like posting chapters over 5k long) and be done with it. But then I got told about a last-minute interview to prepare for. I'm only a couple hundred words away from the last bit being complete but it also needs editing and I didn't want to make you guys wait any longer. Which is why I split it again.  
>  But, if you guys want, I might be able to get the last chapter up by Saturday night.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we are finally done! I think I managed to wrap everything up (which is why this damn thing kept growing in length… I had a lot more loose ends to tie up than I thought... but, in my defence, this whole fic was originally only supposed to be like 10-18k long) and I hope you guys enjoy the final chapter ;)

Eddie’s car was parked out front, Joe’s in the drive, and Barry could hear movement coming from inside the house. It seemed like he was right to assume the West family dinners would still continue without Barry there. Good. It would be easier to make amends with Iris and Joe on the same day.

Barry approached the porch and his stomach flipped as he began to doubt himself. What if he wasn’t welcome anymore? What if Joe had decided that Barry just wasn’t worth the trouble? What if Iris couldn’t forgive everything she had learnt about him the other day? What if she had told Eddie everything and he tried to arrest Barry?

This meal could be a recipe for disaster… and yet Barry still knocked and waited. He heard Joe’s laughter, deep and heartfelt, as the man approached his front door. And then silence as the silhouette came into view from behind the frosted windows and Barry’s heart raced: Joe must have recognised Barry’s shape. He hated moments like this, moments when his brain was working so drastically faster than the time that flowed around him… a fight or flight reflex that kicked in whenever Barry got too anxious, and he just had to wait it out.

It seemed like minutes passed before Joe finally opened the door. In reality, it had only been seconds.

“ _Barry_ …” Joe breathed out, surprise written across his face. Barry swallowed thickly and smiled as best as he could.

“Hey, Joe,” he muttered. “Is this a bad time?” Joe just blinked at him for a moment before shaking his head vigorously.

“No, no, come in,” Joe replied, stepping back and opening the door wider for Barry. Neither Iris or Eddie was in sight but Barry could hear their laughter coming from the kitchen. He hung back in the living room for a moment as Joe closed the door behind him. He realised then that he had no idea how to start what he wanted to say. All of his focus had gone into just getting here, he hadn’t really considered what to do once he was inside.

“Hey, Joe, do you want a refill?” Eddie called, walking out of the kitchen and pausing as he saw Barry. “Barry? I didn’t know you were coming today,” he said, smiling. At that, Iris emerged from the kitchen too. Barry watched her closely but she didn’t seem angry anymore, just surprised.

Barry looked from Iris back to Joe and took a deep breath. “I’m here to make amends,” Barry said nervously. “I went to see Iris in the hospital the other day,” he told Joe and then turned to address Iris. “And you were right. I can’t keep pushing you guys away.” Barry turned back to Joe once more, his voice cracking slightly as he continued. “What happened to my dad… it wasn’t your fault Joe. I can see that now and… and I’m sorry for blaming you all this time.”

Joe just shook his head and wrapped Barry up in a hug. Barry saw tears in the older man’s eyes and his own threatened to spill as he let out a guttural breath, on the verge of full-on sobbing as he held the man who had been a father-figure to him for his whole life.

“I’m sorry too, Son,” Joe muttered as they continued to embrace “I’m sorry I doubted you.” And Barry knew that he meant it. Joe may never learn the truth about what happened to Barry’s parents, he may never truly believe that Henry was innocent, but he _wanted_ to believe in Barry because Barry was as much Joe’s son as Iris was his daughter. A few seconds later and Barry composed himself enough to pull away. “Stay for lunch?” Joe asked and Barry nodded in relief.

Joe smiled momentarily before his eyes widened and he darted back into the kitchen, shouting about how the food was going to burn. Eddie didn’t hang around much before he backed off, making an excuse to help Joe out in the kitchen and leaving Barry and Iris alone to talk again, only a few days after he’d tracked her down to the hospital.

“Have you thought about the _other_ thing I said?” Iris asked immediately, walking further into the room, and Barry nodded.

“I have,” he admitted. He’d barely stopped thinking about it over the past few days. And it wasn’t just Iris, it was what Wells had said too: that Barry could be a hero. “But I’m not going to stop being a thief,” he continued. “Not anytime soon. I get why that might be difficult for you to accept, but I’m happy. The way I live right now, me and Len and what we do… it makes me happy.”

"I'm glad you're happy, Barry,” she said, earnestly. “I just wish that what made you happy wasn't being a criminal." Barry nodded because he knew the kind of predicament he was putting Iris in. He knew that what he was doing was wrong. He knew it deep in his soul that the right thing to do would be to retire from his criminal life for good. But, for once in his life, he didn't care that what he was doing was bad. He felt free. He didn’t think he could ever give up the thrill of a heist. It’s who he was now and he enjoyed it. “Just… make sure my Dad doesn’t find out... I don’t want him to have a heart attack,” Iris added with a huff of a laugh, and Barry was surprised by the acceptance he saw on her face.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. Logically, Barry knew that he would eventually have to come clean to Joe too. Len had long ago filled Barry in on his previous encounters with the law and Detective Joe West in particular. Joe had come close to putting Len behind bars a couple of times over the past fifteen years, but Len never left behind enough evidence for the charges to stick. But even if Joe could never prove it, he _knew_ what Len did for a living. And since Barry had every intention of keeping both men in his life, it was only a matter of time until Barry’s new profession came to light.

“Can we talk outside for a second?” Iris asked. She looked over her shoulder, back towards the kitchen door where Eddie and Joe were finishing cooking dinner. Her nerves peeked Barry’s interest: whatever she wanted to say must be big… Barry nodded and followed Iris to the front door.

Christmas had passed a couple of weeks ago, not that Barry nor Len had bothered to celebrate it (well, not beyond breaking into an art gallery and stealing each other a gift… which Barry suspected was the beginning of a new tradition), but it hadn’t snowed yet. In fact, the weather over the past couple of days had been relatively warm, meaning that the wooden steps of the porch were cold to the touch but not too damp for them to sit on. They stared quietly for a moment out at the street, like they’d done so many times as they’d grown up.

Barry smiled softly as he looked down and saw where he, forever unable to sit still, had scratched doodles into the wooden step when he was a teenager. He ran his finger over some of them as he waited for Iris to collect her thoughts, wondering if Joe had ever noticed them. If he had, he’d never scolded Barry about it.

“When Wells had me,” Iris started, interrupting Barry’s reminiscence. “He took me to this… white room. I don’t know where I was… It was… it doesn’t matter,” Iris shook her head. “The room doesn’t matter. It’s what was _in_ the room.” Barry sat forward, leaning his arms on his knees as he listened quietly to his best friend. “Maybe I shouldn’t be telling you this,” Iris muttered to herself, pulling her hand through her hair in frustration. “Because I _love_ Eddie. And I want to be with him. And what Wells showed me doesn’t change that…”

“What was it?” Barry asked, getting more and more curious.

“The future. Or… _a_ future. Something that could happen but…”

“ _Iris_ …” Barry prompted further, feeling on edge.

“He showed me that we were married. Me and you,” she rushed out. “In _his_ future. But not… not necessarily _ours_.” Barry just blinked at her. He slowly sat back against the wooden post behind him. “But I want to be with _Eddie_ ,” Iris continued, looking Barry in the eye for the first time since they came outside. “In fact, I wasn’t even going to tell you this. But keeping it a secret felt wrong like I was hiding something. But I’m not. I just can’t tell Eddie because…”

“Because that would mean you’d have to tell him about _my_ secret,” Barry finished for her and then let out a short laugh at the situation. How long had he pined over Iris for? How many years had he dreamt up their future? He’d practically had his vows written when he was 18. And now he found out that, if Wells was telling the truth which was a pretty big _if_ as far as Barry was concerned, they were together in another future, another timeline where Barry was a superhero and they were _married_.

And Barry felt nothing.

Well… not _nothing_. His feelings for Iris hadn’t completely dissolved. But they _had_ changed. His chest no longer ached for her… now it ached for another. Now it ached for _Len_. A year ago, his heart would have soared if he had heard this news. Now it was all too easy to brush away. Iris seemed relieved by his reaction, and then fake-offended.

“Is marrying me really that laughable to you, Barry Allen?” She demanded.

“Never, Dear,” Barry replied sweetly. “The only thing I take more seriously than our fake marriage is our fake children.”

“Child _ren_ , huh?” Iris asked, amused.

“Twins,” Barry nodded with as straight of a face as he could manage. “Wanda and Pietro.”

“What? No, no, no. I am not naming our kids after comic book characters,” Iris insisted, shaking her hands in an ‘abort’ motion.

“… You recognised that?” Barry asked, impressed.

“Of course, I _have_ seen the Age of Ultron trailers, you know.” Iris rolled her eyes and tapped her finger against her chin. “How about Don and Dawn?”

“Oh come on, Don is a worse name than Pietro.”

“Keep this up and I’ll name him Bartholomew Junior.”

“Ouch,” Barry laughed. “You must really hate our son.”

“Careful, Honey, or you’ll be sleeping on the couch tonight,” she warned, managing to keep an indignant look on her face for a moment longer before it cracked and she burst into laughter with him. Their laughter had just died down when there was a soft knock on the door behind them. They turned back to look at the front of the house as Eddie opened the door and stepped outside.

“If you guys are ready, food’s on the table,” Eddie announced. Barry and Iris exchanged a smile and a nod before getting up. Iris rushed in front of Barry to give Eddie a quick kiss on the cheek and they held hands as they walked back into the house. Barry smiled as he watched them, wishing he had Len beside him.

He sat at the table and started shovelling food onto his plate, careful not to eat _too_ much so that those he was sitting with who didn’t know about his powers wouldn’t be concerned. Everyone caught Barry up on their lives as they ate. Barry had never really spoken much to Eddie before, due to the coma and the crippling depression, and so most of the conversation centred around getting to know him a little better. Barry soon realised why Iris liked him so much. He almost reminded Barry of a puppy.

“So, are you going to go back to work for the CCPD?” Eddie asked casually, following on from the update about Iris’ new job at Central City Picture News, and Joe’s eyes fell on Barry. Iris’ did too, but she already knew the truth. But, the thing was, Barry _could_ see it then: his life laid out for him like a map. The life _Joe_ wanted for him. He could see how easy it would be to slip back into that life. But it wasn’t the life _he_ wanted. He’d spent his whole life choosing the _safe_ option: too scared to go after what he really wanted. He didn’t want to play it safe anymore.

“No,” he said softly. He’d missed this part of his old life, the family part. But he’d barely even thought about the rest of it. He’d outgrown it now: the job, the obsession with the supernatural, the compulsion to please everyone around him… he’d even managed to outgrow his hopeless crush on Iris. Looking at her now, he saw nothing but his best and oldest friend. “In fact, there’s something I should tell you guys.”

At that, Iris looked worried. He could see her silently trying to communicate with him that this was a bad idea. But she misunderstood Barry’s meaning. He wasn’t about to announce that he was a master thief now to Joe and Eddie.

“I met someone,” Barry said. “But he doesn’t live in Central, he just kind of travels here for work sometimes,” Barry explained carefully. “He’s leaving town soon and… I’m going with him.”

“You’re leaving?” Iris gasped. “But we just got you back.”

“I know. But, I’ll come back to visit,” Barry insisted, and he meant it. He didn’t want to lose his family again.

“Where are you going?” Joe asked

“We’re not sure yet,” Barry admitted. “Just… wherever the job takes us.”

“What kind of job is this?” Eddie frowned and Barry barely managed to hide his laugh as he replied.

“He collects and sells antiques,” Barry skirted. “It’s a family business.” Barry saw Iris roll her eyes playfully and he smiled. It felt good to have her in on the secret, it was almost like when they were kids. Dinner was over soon enough and Barry refused dessert, not wanting to risk pushing this good thing to breaking point by lingering around too long.

He stood up and hugged them all, even Eddie which had been a surprise, goodbye while promising to keep in touch. And then he left. He vowed to himself, as he walked down the familiar street that he once called home, that he would come back to say goodbye before he and Len left Central. The thought of leaving made him feel sad now in a way that it hadn’t before. Now that he’d reconnected with his family, he didn’t want to lose them again… but moving away didn’t necessarily mean that would happen. And he _wanted_ to leave. He wanted that fresh start that they’d promised each other. Barry smiled and sped up into a run. He dashed into a sushi place on his way back to their new safehouse, eating his share on the way.

Len was watching TV in the front room, his feet up on the coffee table, and so Barry collapsed on the sofa next to him. Len barely flinched, well accustomed to Barry’s powers by now. Barry grinned before shoving one last dragon roll in his mouth and passing Len his food. Len rolled his eyes but accepted the offered food graciously.

“Dinner with the Wests go well?” Len asked as he sat up straighter and opened up the containers.

“Surprisingly, yeah,” Barry said with a shrug. Len looked at him for a brief moment and then returned to his food.

“They haven’t converted you back to the Light Side on me?” Len asked. Barry shook his head and smiled.

“Nope, still Team Dark Side,” he laughed and pinched a spicy tuna roll out of Len’s fingers. When Len turned to glare at Barry, Barry just grinned. “See,” he spluttered with his mouth full.

“You’re disgusting,” Len said with a roll of his eyes. But there was a fondness in Len’s smile that made Barry’s stomach do summersaults. He didn’t know how he’d gotten so lucky as to find Len when he did. Although he didn’t like to think about it, Barry knew that if they had met at any other point in Barry’s life, at a time when Barry was trying so hard to be _good_ , that things would have turned out very different between them.

Barry sighed and leaned down, resting his head on Len’s shoulder and closing his eyes. He only meant to rest there for a moment, just soaking in the smell and touch of his boyfriend. But then Len shifted, moving his arm so he could wrap it around Barry’s shoulders and keep him close. Barry smiled when Len placed a kiss behind Barry’s ear.

“Stressful day?” Len whispered, so close that Barry could feel Len’s heated breath on his skin. Barry shivered. It had been days since they had been this close, along, together. They hadn’t had sex in a week, not since Lisa visited the _first_ time, too busy dealing with everything that had happened since then.

Logically, Barry knew that a week wasn’t a big deal. But ever since he woke up with powers, his libido had gone off the charts. And so now, just the gentle brush of Len’s hand against his thigh was almost enough to have him vibrating. In one fluid motion, Barry knocked the containers of sushi off Len’s lap, swinging his leg over to straddle him instead.

“I was eating that,” Len deadpanned with a cocked eyebrow, sounding unimpressed. But there was a spark of mischief in his eyes that had Barry wrapping his arms around the back of Len's neck and leaning in close.

“You should eat _me_ instead,” Barry purred and Len managed a smirk before Barry surged forward to capture his lips. Len’s hands instantly came up to wrap around Barry’s waist, one hand slipping under his shirt to press against his skin. Len’s tongue battled with Barry’s expertly and Barry clung tighter. _God_ , he was already getting hard with how much his body was craving Len. Barry tried to hold back but he couldn’t help rocking down against his boyfriend.

“ _Bedroom_ ,” Len commanded between gasps and Barry was quick to swoop him up and deposit him upstairs. He shed them both of their clothes, crawling on top of Len and kissing every inch of skin that he could reach as he went. He hovered his mouth over Len’s weeping cock and then slowly dipped his head so that he could mouth wetly at the point where Len’s dick and balls met. He momentarily sucked the skin into his mouth, then licked a long strip up to the tip of Len’s cock as his boyfriend moaned lewdly underneath him.

He slowly sunk his lips around Len, taking him all in down to the base. Barry sucked and bobbed his head, feeling Len shake and writhe underneath him. He took his boyfriend right to the very edge and then pulled back before the older man could come.

“You’ll be the death of me,” Len cursed, breathless. Barry smirked and continued his assault on the rest of Len’s skin as he worked his way back up to Len’s mouth. The silk sheets were soft and cool to his touch and Barry shivered as he imagined how _good_ it would feel to be fucked on top of them.

Len seemed to have a similar idea because he was soon tightening his thighs against Barry’s hips and using it to flip their positions. He seized Barry’s lips and gave one long hard thrust downwards, grinding his naked hips forcefully against Barry’s. Barry dug his fingers into where they gripped Len’s shoulders and groaned into the kiss. When the kiss broke, he was panting in his attempts to hold in his vibrations.

Len rewarded him for that by making his way down Barry’s body, pressing wet and sloppy kisses on his way down, much like Barry had done to him. Except, he ignored Barry’s cock completely and instead went _lower_. He pulled Barry’s thighs up to sit on his shoulders and then smirked up at him.

“I believe this is what you requested,” Len drawled and then, without further warning, began licking lavishly at Barry’s hole. Barry gasped, grabbing tightly at the cool sheets beneath him.

Len pulled away long enough for Barry to sputter out a “God yes” and then he returned to his task. He pushed his tongue passed Barry’s puckered rim and ate Barry out like a pro. And it felt good, so _good_ , particularly when his fingers began to join in. Barry thrummed with pleasure as Len rubbed against his prostate, losing control of his vibrations as he saw stars.

He gasped and begged for more. So close already. So, so, _close_. And then Len pulled back his tongue and stopped the assault on Barry’s prostate. Barry swore and whimpered as Len chose to finish opening Barry up in a more methodical way. Soon he pulled his hands away altogether and crawled back up Barry’s body. They shared a long wet kiss as Len lazily ground down against Barry; but it was just a tease, not hard enough to give any _real_ friction. Barry needed _more_.

“How do you want it?” Len asked after pulling away, licking his lips and grinning down at Barry. He could only guess at how he looked right now. But Len looked _amazing_ with his blue eyes darkened with lust and the sheen of sweat covering his beautiful body.

“Just like this,” Barry said, he wanted to look at him as Len took him apart. Len kissed him again immediately, his hands travelling down Barry’s body, hooking under Barry’s thighs and encouraging him to wrap them around Len’s hips. Barry did, shuffling down a little to give Len the best angle possible as he pushed inside. Barry gasped into the kiss and grabbed Len’s ass, squeezing tightly as Len sunk further and further, fully sheathing himself into Barry’s waiting hole.

He paused for only a moment before he began to pull out and then drove down into Barry again. A vibration wrecked through Barry’s body at that first thrust, and Barry tried _so hard_ to hold the rest inside. With only Len’s spit acting as their lube, Barry knew that too much friction would be uncomfortable. So he held them back as Len thrust into him again and again. Skin sliding against skin. Hands groping and pulling at each other.

Barry lasted a pathetically short amount of time before spilling over the edge and coming. Len slowed his thrusts, about to pull out to finish himself off with his hand, but Barry shook his head and wrapping his thighs tighter around Len’s hips.

“Keep going,” he breathed out and Len did, diving down to suck and bite at Barry’s exposed neck as his thrusts picked up the pace again. “ _Harder_ ,” Barry encouraged and Len responded with a particularly deep thrust that had Barry’s dick stirring with interest again.

They writhed against each other, panting and swearing and calling out each other’s names like a prayer as they approached their orgasms. Barry surrendered his control of his vibrations, letting the speed force spark out of him and consume them. This time they came together.

For a moment, Len collapsed against Barry. Panting heavily against his overheated skin. Then he rolled out and away so that they were both lying with their back against the soft, silk, sheets, blinking up at the ceiling.

“Hmm,” Len hummed, low and deeply satisfied. It made Barry grin. He turned gently onto his stomach, facing Len and watching his boyfriend’s chest slowly rise and fall, following the patterns of Len’s tattoos with his eyes. He admired Len’s body in the peaceful room, quiet even with the hustle of the busy street outside filtering in. He examined the side of Len’s face that was viewable to him, taking in the 3-day stubble. Len was usually so clean-shaven, but he hadn’t yet taken the opportunity to use the razors that Barry had stolen for them this morning.

Barry decided that he liked this rougher look. Then again, there wasn’t much that Len could do or wear and Barry _wouldn’t_ like... He idly remembered the look that appeared in Len’s eyes every time that Barry brought up the idea of making amends with Joe… so maybe there was _one_ look that Barry didn’t like on Len, after all.

“You know, something’s been bugging me…” Barry admitted, his face slightly smushed into the pillow. He waited until Len opened his eyes and turned his head to face Barry before continuing. “Why did you think I wouldn’t want to leave Central City anymore?” He asked quietly. Len’s expression didn’t change much. To someone who didn’t know Leonard Snart very well, he would just look calm and tired… but Barry could see the pain that appeared beneath the blue of his boyfriend’s eyes… the exact same look that Barry hated.

“Does it matter?” Len asked, trying to brush this away but Barry wouldn’t let him. He sat up so that Len knew he was serious and Len sighed, turning to look back at the ceiling for a moment. Once he’d collected his thoughts, Len sat up too. “You’re going to break up with me,” he said. His voice so sure. It wasn’t a question, it was something else. Barry frowned as his heart raced, confused and worried.

“You want to break up?” He asked, his voice steadier than he was expecting. Leonard shook his head.

“No.”

“Good,” Barry said quickly, though his chest still felt tight. “Because I’m not letting you go so easily,” he insisted.

“I heard what Wells said to you,” Len reminded Barry. “About your _future_. That you’re destined to be a hero.” Barry tried to dismiss this but Len continued on before Barry could get a word in. “He told me something similar when he cornered me in the alley: that it’s only a matter of time before you realise how much _more_ you could be and that being a criminal, being with me, just doesn’t fit into your life anymore.” Barry shook his head quickly and earnestly, eyes wide.

“You can’t actually _believe_ any of that.”

“It makes sense,” Len said and Barry scoffed before he could continue further.

“Time travel makes _sense_ to you?” He laughed, though his heart still felt heavy.

“You can run faster than the speed of light, Barry. You can move through walls and vibrate _any_ part of your body.” The smirk returned to Len’s face and his eyes momentarily darkened. “Time travel doesn’t exactly feel like a big leap anymore.” Barry shook his head but couldn’t argue because deep down he might believe it too. “You’re a good guy. Too good for me.”

“No,” Barry insisted, grabbing Len’s hand tightly. “What Wells said was wrong. I don’t want to be some superhero. I don’t want Iris. I want _this_.” Barry emphasised that with a squeeze of his boyfriend’s hand. “I want to be with _you_ , Lenny.”

Len laughed suddenly and Barry frowned. But he wasn’t pulling away and so Barry took that as a good sign.

“ _Lenny_?” Len questioned and Barry’s words caught up with him. He huffed out a genuine laugh then too.

“… I may have spent too much time talking with your sister,” Barry said once he was able to catch his breath again. Though actually, the more he heard the name Lenny, the more he liked it. Oddly enough, it suited Len… particularly when he looked the way he did in this moment: an easy smile on his lips, dimples in his cheeks, and a softness to his eyes that Barry only ever saw when they were alone together. Their shared laughter seemed to have swept away all Len’s doubts and cracked his mask, just like it had made the knot in Barry’s chest loosen.

For the moment, Barry didn’t think about his troubles. He wasn’t thinking about the death of his parents, nor was he thinking about the man in yellow. He was able to push all thoughts of STAR Labs and the bizarre story that Wells told him out of his mind. For the moment, it was just Barry and Len. And they were happy.

“I love you,” Len whispered, his voice softer than Barry had ever heard it before. He sounded… vulnerable. And that alone was more surprising than his actual confession was. Barry barely paused before surging forward to capture Lenny’s lips with his own. The kiss was soft and chaste, but it also lingered as Barry leant his forehead against his boyfriend’s.

“I love you too,” Barry confessed. Lenny’s answering grin took Barry’s breath away and, for a moment, everything was right with the world. Then Len’s phone rang. Len looked like he was debating whether or not to answer it, but he eventually sighed and pulled away from Barry to fish his burner phone from his jeans on the floor.

“Lisa?” Len answered after checking the caller ID. Len listened to the phone and then gave a brisk nod. “We’ll be there soon,” he vowed and hung up. Barry was already moving, rushing into the bathroom to grab a damp cloth. He cleaned them both up using his super speed and then they dressed as Len explained that Lisa had found something important at STAR Labs that they needed to see. Barry didn’t ask what she was doing back there, if only because he figured that Len probably didn’t know either.

Barry swallowed back the bile that arose in the back of his throat at the thought of returning to STAR Labs. It was just a place, just a building. Wells wasn’t there, Wells wasn’t _alive_ anymore. And Barry realised that he should probably feel _something_ about that… some guilt or regret… but instead, he was relieved. And the only regret Barry had was that he hadn’t been able to save his father.

Barry took a deep breath and swooped Len up as he started running. Lisa was waiting for them outside of the building, which Barry was thankful for because he really had only been inside of STAR Labs a handful of times and he wasn’t exactly certain of his way around.

“What’s going on?” Len asked, frowning as he looked at his sister, obviously picking up on one of her tells that Barry hadn’t noticed because soon her blank expression broke into a winning grin.

“You’ll see,” she drawled, turning to open the door and lead the way. Barry only hesitated for a fraction of a second before he followed the Snart siblings into STAR Labs. He couldn’t help but feel like he was entering the belly of the beast. He almost stopped, but then Len took his hand and Barry drew strength from their contact. With Len by his side, Barry knew that he could tackle any obstacle he faced. Including this irrational fear. He squeezed Len’s hand in thanks as they walked.

“So, that creepy guy,” Lisa started talking. “The other speedster. He said something about being from the future, right?”

“He was lying. Or… insane,” Barry brushed off, not wanting Len to start worrying again.

“Maybe not,” Lisa practically sang. She flashed a grin at them over her shoulder as they rounded a corner to find… a hole in the wall. A blank gaping hole that no light seemed to penetrate. Barry swallowed thickly and watched as Lisa strode confidently _through_ it. She disappeared instantly into the blackness. Barry and Len slowed their steps cautiously as they approached but they could see nothing of Lisa through the hole in the wall…

And then she was suddenly back, pocking her head back out and grinning at them. Though the rest of her body was still missing inside the back void.

“You boys coming in or what?” She laughed and winked before disappearing again. A hologram was covering the entrance to the room, Barry realised. The feeling of dread was back again, the feeling of walking into a hidden room in STAR Labs with no idea of what was on the other side. Len looked towards Barry as though he could sense his hesitance. But this was _Lisa_ , not Wells. He trusted Lisa. She was Len’s sister. She wasn’t plotting anything. Wells wasn’t behind that wall. He was _dead_.

Barry repeated that to himself over and over as he dropped Len’s hand and took the leap of faith, stepping past the threshold while Len followed closely behind him. Barry flinched at the brightness of the room once he was past the hologram.

“What is this place?” Barry muttered under his breath as he looked around the small room, sure that he had never seen anything like this in STAR Labs before. It was a blinding kind of white: walls, ceiling, floor, everything, was white and covered in these odd patterns. One wall was partially obscured by a hologram that was projected onto it, an article. Barry instantly noted the date it was written and his heart jumped into his throat. He was suddenly reminded of what Iris had told him while they were sat on the porch together earlier… she’d said something about a white room and…

Barry looked at Len instantly as he realised that something in this room would point towards Barry and Iris were married in another version of the future. And, after everything Len had confessed to him just fifteen minutes ago, Barry didn’t think Len would be able to just brush this information aside. Barry would tell Len about it someday, but today, right _now_ , wasn’t the time.

He had to get them out of here.

But then the article began to fade out. And, just before it was gone completely, Barry noticed the name on by-line of the story: Iris West-Thawne. And, as if that wasn’t trippy enough, a giant head appeared in the room where the article had been.

“Good evening, Barry Allen,” she, _it_ , said. And Barry just… gawped. His jaw was on the floor, he was sure of it. Len, on the other hand, had drawn his cold gun and was pointing it at the… hologram? A hologram of _what_ , exactly? They shared a shocked look and, at that, Lisa laughed. A bending over, gasping for breath, tears in her eyes, laugh. But she didn’t even try to offer them any details on what was happening.

“What are you?” Len eventually asked as he lowered the weapon.

“I’m Gideon,” the hologram said, “an interactive artificial intelligence.”

An AI? That was… unreal.

“And you know who I am?” Barry asked, too curious for his own good.

“Of course, you’re Barry Allen. Also known as the Flash, the impossible thief of Central City, co-founder of two domestic abuse organisations, and my creator.”

“Whoa, what? I create an AI?” Barry blurted out. “ _How_?” The world was years away from technology like this and Barry didn’t even _work_ in that field. He didn’t work in _any_ field anymore.

“With the help of Cisco Ramon, Hartley Rathaway, and Leonard Allen,” Gideon replied and Barry almost choked on his own spit.

Leonard _Allen_?

As in… he and Len would…

Barry felt a blush burning furiously on his neck and face. Len’s eyes were on him now, silent and analysing, and that just made Barry’s blush worse. And as the shock wore off, Barry’s heartbeat quickened, as did his breathing, and he felt a flutter of excitement building in his stomach. He looked at Len, seeing a soft smile reflecting back at him.

Barry realised then that whatever Iris had seen that made her think she would marry Barry one day… it had changed. The future really _wasn’t_ written in stone. They had control over it. They could do, or not do, whatever they wanted. And, right then, all Barry wanted to do was to kiss Len, to touch him, and be close to him. Because Len was looking at Barry with love. But there was doubt there too like he was having a difficult time believing what he was hearing. And Barry just wanted to kiss that doubt away.

Lisa cleared her throat, making Barry jump.

“If this is about to head in the same direction as mine and Cisco’s revelation did, I think I should probably skedaddle,” she laughed. Lisa moved from where she had been leaning back against the wall, heading for the exit while winking at them. But Len grabbed her arm as she passed him.

“Cisco?” He questioned and Lisa smiled. It wasn’t a smirk or a devilish grin like Barry had seen on her so many times before. It was genuine and happy.

“I guess nerdy is my type too,” she replied with a shrug and Barry eventually noticed that her lipstick was smudged, her hair and general appearance a little dishevelled. Huh, Len was right, Barry still had far to go when it came to analysing his surroundings. “I’d appreciate it if you guys left before he wakes up,” she added. “He was getting nervous about this becoming a… causal nexus,” she tested the words on her lips like she was unsure of them. But then she just continued. “So I had to promise not ask Gideon any more questions. Cisco might get mad once he finds out about my loophole,” she admitted after a pause. This time, when she turned to leave, Len didn’t stop her.

Alone now, they looked at each other again before turning back to the AI. There was so much Barry wanted to know… but, Cisco was right, this could become dangerous.

“We should leave,” Len said first, seemingly on the same page, and Barry nodded. Except, they weren’t on the same page about _everything_ yet and Barry wanted to put that right. They would deal with this new-found knowledge, this new-found room, before they left Central. But, for now, Barry had something much more important to do. He pulled Len close, cupping his face with both of his hands, and he looked Len in the eyes before kissing him, deep and slow.

“I love you,” Barry reminded him. And he would repeat that every minute of every day if that’s what it took. Because Barry wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, golden vibe wasn’t actually planned in this but I just couldn’t help myself. If Lisa was learning about Lenny’s future husband then it was only fair that she learns about her own too.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the fic. I might write a sequel but no promises. If you follow me on Instagram ([@ss.sterek](https://www.instagram.com/ss.sterek/?hl=en)) or Tumblr ([@pieprincess-and the-fallenangel](http://pieprincess-andthe-fallenangel.tumblr.com/)) then I’ll keep you updated on that. I would love to hear from you guys so drop me a comment or come slide into my dm ;) I don’t bite... much. I’d also be happy to hear about any constructive criticism you might have to offer as that is always super helpful. Or if you just want to squeal to someone about coldflash? I’m in!
> 
> As always, thank you for sticking this one out! I’ll probably start updating Thantophobia more often now, and eventually Flashpoint too.


End file.
